Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) Given New $8.50 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) had its price target cut by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $10.50 to $8.50 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price points to a potential upside of 2.35% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on NAVI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Navient from $15.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Navient from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Navient in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised Navient from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $12.00 price target on Navient in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $10.88.

Navient Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NAVI traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $8.31. 300,928 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,037,004. Navient has a 52 week low of $7.86 and a 52 week high of $16.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $8.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.94, a current ratio of 9.01 and a quick ratio of 9.01. The company has a market cap of $789.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.13 and a beta of 1.27.

Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The credit services provider reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.29). Navient had a negative net margin of 2.47% and a positive return on equity of 4.70%. The company had revenue of $137.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.24) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Navient will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Navient

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NAVI. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Navient by 70.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 818 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Navient by 79.0% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,525 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Navient by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 18,372 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 1,168 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Navient by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,228 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 1,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Navient by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 12,604 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 1,706 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.14% of the company’s stock.

About Navient

Navient Corporation (NASDAQ: NAVI) is a specialized provider of asset management and business processing solutions, with a primary focus on student loan servicing. Established in 2014 through the separation from Sallie Mae, Navient assumed responsibility for servicing federal and private education loans, positioning itself as one of the largest servicers of higher education debt in the United States.

The company’s core activities center on federal student loan servicing under contracts with the U.S.