Quantinno Capital Management LP Buys 25,453 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 74.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 59,841 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 25,453 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP's holdings in SLM were worth $1,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 103.4% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 135,014 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,712,000 after acquiring an additional 68,632 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 223,692 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $6,169,000 after acquiring an additional 18,754 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,246,797 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $338,889,000 after acquiring an additional 456,415 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of SLM in the fourth quarter worth about $235,000. Finally, Discovery Capital Management LLC CT bought a new stake in shares of SLM in the fourth quarter worth about $5,775,000. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up from $33.00) on shares of SLM in a research report on Wednesday. Compass Point upped their price objective on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on SLM from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities 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, SLM has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $31.82.

SLM Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ SLM traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $33.58. 2,003,515 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,257,425. SLM Co. has a twelve month low of $19.39 and a twelve month high of $33.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. The business's 50-day moving average is $29.40 and its 200-day moving average is $28.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.32.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. The firm had revenue of $374.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $359.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. SLM's dividend payout ratio is 18.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 3,000 shares of SLM 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,096,324.25. This trade represents a 7.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

SLM 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.