Millennium Management LLC Cuts Stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Millennium Management LLC reduced its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 23.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 550,385 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 168,166 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned about 0.26% of SLM worth $15,180,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SLM. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of SLM during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,771,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 136,046 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,754,000 after purchasing an additional 2,393 shares during the period. Kaizen Financial Strategies bought a new position in SLM in the 4th quarter valued at $235,000. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 60.1% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 16,785 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $463,000 after buying an additional 6,299 shares during the period. Finally, Ethic Inc. purchased a new stake in SLM in the fourth quarter valued at about $243,000. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total transaction of $93,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 35,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,324.25. This represents a 7.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

SLM Stock Down 0.2%

SLM stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $33.58. 2,003,515 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,257,425. 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 cap of $7.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. The firm's 50 day moving average is $29.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.46. SLM Co. has a 1 year low of $19.39 and a 1 year high of $33.95.

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

SLM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. SLM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.71%.

About SLM

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.