SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Shares Bought by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC increased its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 289,035 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 15,250 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.14% of SLM worth $7,972,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in SLM by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,849 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in SLM by 86.4% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 971 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in SLM by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,825 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $933,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in SLM by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 24,263 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $669,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp grew its position in shares of SLM by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 9,052 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SLM Stock Performance

SLM traded up $0.40 on Tuesday, reaching $28.61. The company had a trading volume of 1,280,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,196,390. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $28.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.23. SLM Co. has a 1 year low of $19.39 and a 1 year high of $32.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.02 billion, a PE ratio of 10.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.21. SLM had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. The firm had revenue of $374.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $359.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.27 EPS. SLM's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. SLM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SLM. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.73.

SLM Company Profile

SLM Corporation, through its subsidiaries, originates and services private education loans to students and their families to finance the cost of their education in the United States. It is also involved in the provision of retail deposit accounts, including certificates of deposit, money market accounts, and high-yield savings accounts; and interest-bearing omnibus accounts.