Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 4,819 Shares of Nelnet, Inc. $NNI

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE:NNI) by 0.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,546,041 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,819 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings in Nelnet were worth $193,843,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NNI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Nelnet by 189.8% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 368 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nelnet by 170.3% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 373 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Nelnet in the second quarter worth about $62,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Nelnet by 137.3% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 541 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Nelnet during the third quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.51% of the company’s stock.

Nelnet Stock Performance

Nelnet stock opened at $129.23 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 28.98 and a current ratio of 28.98. The company has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a PE ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $132.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.32. Nelnet, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $98.15 and a fifty-two week high of $142.87.

Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The credit services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Nelnet had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 18.99%.The firm had revenue of $390.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $382.00 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Nelnet, Inc. will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Nelnet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Nelnet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NNI. Wall Street Zen downgraded Nelnet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Zacks Research raised shares of Nelnet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Nelnet in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.00.

Insider Transactions at Nelnet

In related news, Director Deun Jona M. Van sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.95, for a total value of $51,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,780.80. The trade was a 36.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 50.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Nelnet 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.