Quantinno Capital Management LP Increases Stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 74.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,841 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying 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 quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SLM. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of SLM by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,246,797 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $338,889,000 after acquiring an additional 456,415 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in SLM by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,529,496 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $207,664,000 after purchasing an additional 2,111,699 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new position in SLM during the fourth quarter worth about $144,101,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in SLM by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,175,645 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $142,744,000 after purchasing an additional 338,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SLM in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $140,442,000. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. Barclays lifted 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 upped their price target on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up from $33.00) on shares of SLM in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. 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, SLM 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 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 sale, the director now owns 35,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,096,324.25. This represents a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

SLM Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of SLM traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $34.42. 256,264 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,249,737. SLM Co. has a 52-week low of $19.39 and a 52-week high of $34.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.56. The firm has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $374.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $359.83 million. SLM had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. SLM's revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

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