Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Share Price Crosses Below 200 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)’s stock price passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $15.06 and traded as low as $13.04. Navient shares last traded at $13.08, with a volume of 961,755 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on NAVI shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Navient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Navient from $15.50 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.83.

Navient Stock Down 1.0 %

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $14.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.59, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a current ratio of 9.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77 and a beta of 1.43.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $1.20. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $150.04 million. Navient had a net margin of 1.71% and a return on equity of 8.62%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Navient Co. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Navient’s payout ratio is currently 92.75%.

Insider Activity at Navient

In related news, EVP Stephen M. Hauber sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $150,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 256,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,853,245. The trade was a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 27.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Navient

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Navient by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,581,311 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $55,833,000 after buying an additional 779,973 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in Navient in the second quarter valued at $3,345,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Navient by 12.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,582,928 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $23,047,000 after acquiring an additional 171,160 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Navient during the second quarter worth about $2,327,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Navient by 59.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 284,130 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,429,000 after purchasing an additional 105,454 shares in the last quarter. 97.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Navient Company Profile

Navient Corporation provides technology-enabled education finance and business processing solutions for education, health care, and government clients in the United States. It operates through three segments: Federal Education Loans, Consumer Lending, and Business Processing. The company owns Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans that are insured or guaranteed by state or not-for-profit agencies; and performs servicing on its portfolios, as well as federal education loans held by other institutions.