Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Acquires 40,378 Shares of SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 24.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 207,129 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 40,378 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of SLM worth $6,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SLM. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 1.8% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 24,657 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $724,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in SLM by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,935 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 6.4% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 7,800 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased 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 worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Finally, Kaizen Financial Strategies increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 7.5% in the first quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 9,177 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SLM. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of SLM in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up previously from $33.00) on shares of SLM in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on SLM from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on SLM from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.00.

Insider Transactions at SLM

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 35,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,324.25. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

SLM Stock Up 2.3%

NASDAQ SLM traded up $0.73 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $32.74. 4,763,027 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,087,752. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.38. SLM Corporation has a 52-week low of $19.39 and a 52-week high of $34.97. The firm has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.45, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $403.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $370.26 million. SLM had a return on equity of 22.33% and a net margin of 15.46%. SLM's revenue was down 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that SLM Corporation will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. SLM's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.