Man Group plc Has $4.12 Million Stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Man Group plc trimmed its position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 54.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 149,462 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 176,214 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned 0.07% of SLM worth $4,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SLM in the fourth quarter valued at about $777,000. Mubadala Investment Co PJSC acquired a new stake in SLM during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,502,000. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in SLM during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,771,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in SLM by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 136,046 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,754,000 after purchasing an additional 2,393 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kaizen Financial Strategies acquired a new stake in SLM during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $235,000. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SLM traded up $0.78 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $34.36. 2,071,138 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,257,014. SLM Co. has a 1-year low of $19.39 and a 1-year high of $34.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company's 50-day moving average price is $29.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.60.

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

SLM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. SLM's payout ratio is presently 18.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $40.00 target price (up previously from $33.00) on shares of SLM in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $31.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total value of $93,450.00. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.