Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Position in SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 93.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,675 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 37,093 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in SLM were worth $79,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SLM. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of SLM by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 120,732 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,417,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in SLM by 55.3% during the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 81,576 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,396,000 after purchasing an additional 29,055 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SLM by 24.2% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 207,129 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $6,083,000 after acquiring an additional 40,378 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of SLM by 22.9% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,981,771 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $87,575,000 after purchasing an additional 554,931 shares during the period. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management purchased a new stake in shares of SLM in the first quarter valued at $479,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total value of $93,450.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,324.25. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

SLM Stock Down 0.9%

SLM stock traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $32.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,671,974 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,309,375. The company has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.09. SLM Corporation has a 12 month low of $19.39 and a 12 month high of $34.97. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $32.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $374.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $359.83 million. SLM had a net margin of 21.05% and a return on equity of 31.25%. SLM's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that SLM Corporation will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. SLM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised SLM from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $29.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of SLM in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective 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 objective (up previously from $33.00) on shares of SLM in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.40.

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.