Raymond James Financial Inc. Sells 65,982 Shares of SLM Corporation $SLM

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its stake in SLM Corporation by 8.8%, now owning 681,058 shares valued at approximately $20 million.
• SLM recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share, representing a 1.6% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 26.13%.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings reported an EPS of $0.32, missing expectations, while revenues were down 21.4% year-over-year.

Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its position in SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 8.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 681,058 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 65,982 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.32% of SLM worth $20,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Gator Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in SLM by 6.8% during the first quarter. Gator Capital Management LLC now owns 405,805 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $11,918,000 after buying an additional 26,000 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in SLM by 2.9% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,325,274 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $156,403,000 after buying an additional 149,629 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in SLM during the first quarter worth $375,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in SLM during the first quarter worth $473,000. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its holdings in SLM by 13.1% during the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 30,647 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $900,000 after acquiring an additional 3,555 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SLM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded SLM from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of SLM in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on SLM from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on SLM from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on SLM in a report on Monday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.00.

Insider Activity at SLM

In other news, EVP Kerri A. Palmer sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

SLM Stock Performance

SLM stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $31.28. 1,709,494 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,841,753. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $32.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.90. 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 Corporation has a 52 week low of $19.64 and a 52 week high of $34.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.52 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.13.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.17). SLM had a net margin of 15.46% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $403.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $370.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. The company's revenue was down 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. SLM has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.000-3.100 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that SLM Corporation will post 3.07 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. SLM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.13%.

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.