Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Boosts Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 162.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,600 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 51,100 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt's holdings in SLM were worth $2,423,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,849 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of SLM in the 4th quarter worth about $86,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in SLM by 314.7% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 212,531 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $5,813,000 after acquiring an additional 161,283 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in SLM during the fourth quarter valued at about $218,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 30,336 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $871,000 after buying an additional 1,682 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company's stock.

SLM Price Performance

SLM traded down $0.09 on Thursday, reaching $31.59. The company had a trading volume of 1,054,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,728,207. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.17. 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 company has a market cap of $6.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.10. SLM Co. has a 52-week low of $19.39 and a 52-week high of $34.54.

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

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. SLM's dividend payout ratio is 18.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SLM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on SLM from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up from $33.00) on shares of SLM in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $32.30.

Insider Activity at SLM

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 3,000 shares of SLM stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total value of $93,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,324.25. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.