Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 13.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 194,429 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 30,471 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. owned 0.09% of SLM worth $5,710,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of SLM by 86.4% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 971 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in SLM by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,935 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in SLM by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 7,800 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Kaizen Financial Strategies raised its holdings in shares of SLM by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 9,177 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invst LLC lifted its position in shares of SLM by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Invst LLC now owns 40,896 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at SLM

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total transaction of $93,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,195 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,324.25. This trade represents a 7.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SLM. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up from $33.00) on shares of SLM in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.30.

SLM Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of SLM traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $31.20. 2,016,806 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,265,939. The company has a market capitalization of $6.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37. The business has a 50 day moving average of $30.51 and a 200 day moving average of $29.23. SLM Co. has a 1-year low of $19.39 and a 1-year high of $34.55.

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

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. SLM's payout ratio is 18.71%.

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.