New York State Teachers Retirement System Trims Stock Holdings in SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 6.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 257,015 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 18,531 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.12% of SLM worth $7,549,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Perpetual Ltd lifted its stake in SLM by 172.7% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 641,554 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $18,842,000 after buying an additional 406,313 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of SLM during the first quarter worth approximately $216,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in shares of SLM by 1.8% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 24,657 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $724,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co purchased a new stake in shares of SLM during the first quarter worth approximately $132,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of SLM by 10.9% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,516 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,129 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,324.25. This trade represents a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their price target on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $40.00 price target (up previously from $33.00) on shares of SLM in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. cut their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.30.

SLM Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of SLM stock opened at $33.87 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $32.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.80. SLM Corporation has a 1-year low of $19.39 and a 1-year high of $34.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.21. SLM had a return on equity of 31.25% and a net margin of 21.05%. The firm 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 company posted $1.27 earnings per share. SLM's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that SLM Corporation will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 5th. SLM's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.