20,302 Shares in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) Bought by Optimize Financial Inc

Optimize Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 20,302 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $270,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NAVI. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Navient by 815.0% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,443 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 2,176 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Navient during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $167,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Navient by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 14,173 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 1,587 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Navient by 757.3% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 14,737 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $196,000 after purchasing an additional 13,018 shares during the period. Finally, AXQ Capital LP purchased a new position in Navient during the 4th quarter worth approximately $196,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

Navient Stock Down 3.6 %

Navient stock opened at $11.01 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 9.48, a quick ratio of 9.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.35. The company has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.24. Navient Co. has a 1-year low of $10.53 and a 1-year high of $16.97. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.12.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.01). Navient had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 6.69%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Navient Co. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Navient’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Navient from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Navient from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Navient from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Navient from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Navient from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Navient currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.00.

Navient 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.