Barclays PLC Purchases 105,454 Shares of Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI)

Barclays PLC grew its position in Navient Co. (NASDAQ:NAVI - Free Report) by 59.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 284,130 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 105,454 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.26% of Navient worth $4,429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 779,973 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 171,160 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Navient by 1.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,092,270 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $17,028,000 after purchasing an additional 19,606 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Navient by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 892,828 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $13,919,000 after buying an additional 8,117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Navient by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 444,467 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $6,929,000 after buying an additional 22,646 shares during the period. 97.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on NAVI. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Navient from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Navient from $15.50 to $15.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on Navient from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Navient in a research report on Monday, September 30th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $17.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Navient from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.63.

Navient Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NAVI traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $14.26. The company had a trading volume of 2,548,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 806,684. Navient Co. has a one year low of $13.71 and a one year high of $19.44. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $15.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.16. 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 cap of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67 and a beta of 1.40.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $1.20. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $150.04 million. Navient had a net margin of 1.71% and a return on equity of 8.62%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Navient Co. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Navient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Navient's payout ratio is presently 92.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Navient

In related news, EVP Stephen M. Hauber sold 10,000 shares of Navient stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 256,883 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,853,245. The trade was a 3.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 27.99% of the company's stock.

About Navient

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.