Mackenzie Financial Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Mackenzie Financial Corp cut its stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 73.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 91,362 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 253,234 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp's holdings in SLM were worth $2,520,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SLM. Amundi increased its position in shares of SLM by 103.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 135,014 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,712,000 after purchasing an additional 68,632 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in SLM by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 223,692 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $6,169,000 after acquiring an additional 18,754 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in SLM during the fourth quarter valued at $235,000. Boston Partners raised its stake 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 valued at $338,889,000 after acquiring an additional 456,415 shares during the period. Finally, Discovery Capital Management LLC CT bought a new stake in shares of SLM in the 4th quarter worth about $5,775,000. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on SLM shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reiterated 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.82.

SLM Stock Up 0.9%

NASDAQ SLM traded up $0.30 on Tuesday, reaching $32.67. 1,480,911 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,268,416. 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 fifty day moving average price of $29.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.90. The company has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.33, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. SLM Co. has a 12 month low of $19.39 and a 12 month high of $34.55.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $374.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $359.83 million. SLM had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. The business's revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. SLM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other SLM 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 35,195 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,324.25. This represents a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

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.