SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Shares Sold by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 93.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,381 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 63,525 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in SLM were worth $120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in SLM during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,771,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of SLM by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 136,046 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,754,000 after purchasing an additional 2,393 shares during the last quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies purchased a new position in shares of SLM during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of SLM by 60.1% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 16,785 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 6,299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SLM during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $243,000. 98.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SLM. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up from $33.00) on shares of SLM in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $31.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total value 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 $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 is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

SLM Price Performance

NASDAQ:SLM traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $33.65. 1,014,875 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,252,324. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37. SLM Co. has a 1 year low of $19.39 and a 1 year high of $35.05. The company has a market cap of $7.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $29.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.60.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business 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 firm earned $1.27 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. SLM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.71%.

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.