Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd Takes $1.51 Million Position in Nelnet, Inc. $NNI

Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE:NNI) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 12,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,505,000. Nelnet makes up 0.7% of Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Nelnet by 6.5% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,353 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nelnet by 5.1% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,050 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nelnet by 4.0% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 3,236 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Nelnet by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,037 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,635,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Nelnet by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,825 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. 33.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NNI. Zacks Research raised shares of Nelnet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nelnet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Nelnet in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Nelnet in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.00.

Nelnet Trading Up 1.0%

NNI opened at $132.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $132.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.03. Nelnet, Inc. has a 12 month low of $98.15 and a 12 month high of $142.87. The company has a current ratio of 28.98, a quick ratio of 28.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18.

Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $1.43. The business had revenue of $427.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $372.00 million. Nelnet had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 18.96%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Nelnet, Inc. will post 4.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nelnet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a positive change from Nelnet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Nelnet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.09%.

Insider Activity

In other Nelnet news, Director Deun Jona M. Van sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.95, for a total value of $51,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 704 shares in the company, valued at $90,780.80. This trade represents a 36.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 50.90% of the company’s stock.

Nelnet Company Profile

Nelnet, Inc (NYSE: NNI) is a diversified education services company founded in 1978 and headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. Originally established as the National Education Loan Network by Michael S. Dunlap, the company has grown into a prominent provider of student loan servicing and education finance solutions in the United States.

At the core of Nelnet’s business is student loan servicing, where it administers and manages federal and private education loans on behalf of borrowers and lending partners.