Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Has $2.40 Million Position in SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 55.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 81,576 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 29,055 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in SLM were worth $2,396,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SLM. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of SLM in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 37.7% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,714 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 355.4% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,899 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 1,482 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 489.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,476 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 3,717 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co acquired a new position in shares of SLM in the first quarter valued at approximately $132,000. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SLM shares. Barclays 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 Friday, May 30th. 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. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up previously from $33.00) on shares of SLM in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of SLM from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.40.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of SLM traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $33.41. The company had a trading volume of 1,408,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,310,257. SLM Corporation has a 12 month low of $19.39 and a 12 month high of $34.97. The firm has a market cap of $7.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day moving average of $32.71 and a 200-day moving average of $30.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.21. SLM had a net margin of 21.05% and a return on equity of 31.25%. The business had revenue of $374.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $359.83 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.27 earnings per share. SLM's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that SLM Corporation will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. SLM's payout ratio is 18.71%.

Insider Transactions at SLM

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total transaction of $93,450.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is 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.