Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in SLM Corporation $SLM

Key Points

• Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in SLM Corporation by 45.1%, now owning 17,123 shares valued at approximately $503,000.
• SLM Corporation reported earnings of $0.32 per share for the quarter, falling short of the expected $0.49, with a revenue of $403.60 million, which is down 21.4% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share, with a payout ratio of 26.13% and a yield of 1.7%.

Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 45.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,123 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 14,067 shares during the period. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in SLM were worth $503,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in SLM by 6.4% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 7,800 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 1.4% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 39,364 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on SLM shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of SLM in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of SLM from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of SLM from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $40.00 target price (up previously from $33.00) on shares of SLM in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $35.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SLM news, EVP Kerri A. Palmer sold 55,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.21, for a total value of $1,771,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 119,253 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,841,139.13. This represents a 31.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

SLM Stock Up 0.6%

SLM stock traded up $0.18 during trading on Thursday, reaching $30.84. 1,384,882 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,562,033. The firm has a market cap of $6.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.50, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.13. SLM Corporation has a 52-week low of $19.64 and a 52-week high of $34.97. The company's 50-day moving average is $32.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.02, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $403.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $370.26 million. SLM had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 15.46%.The firm's revenue was down 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. SLM has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.000-3.100 EPS. On average, analysts predict that SLM Corporation will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. SLM's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.13%.

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.