Wellington Management Group LLP Decreases Position in SLM Corporation $SLM

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its stake in SLM Corporation by 95.3%, selling over 1 million shares and holding only 53,377 shares worth $1,568,000.
• Analysts have recently upgraded SLM's ratings, with price targets ranging from $38.00 to $40.00, indicating strong investor confidence with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• SLM Corporation missed Q2 earnings expectations with an EPS of $0.32 against a consensus of $0.49, but reported revenue of $403.60 million, surpassing expectations of $370.26 million.

Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its position in SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 95.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,377 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 1,073,379 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP's holdings in SLM were worth $1,568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in SLM by 2.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 149,629 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new position in SLM in the fourth quarter worth $140,442,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in SLM by 22.9% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,981,771 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $87,575,000 after purchasing an additional 554,931 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 0.6% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,654,575 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $77,965,000 after buying an additional 15,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duquesne Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of SLM in the 4th quarter valued at $69,509,000. 98.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised SLM from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on SLM from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on SLM from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed 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, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of SLM in a report on Monday, July 14th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, SLM has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $35.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kerri A. Palmer sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.21, for a total transaction of $1,771,550.00. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of SLM stock traded up $0.77 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $31.51. 533,707 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,509,437. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $32.29 and a 200 day moving average of $30.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.02. SLM Corporation has a 52-week low of $19.64 and a 52-week high of $34.97. The company has a market cap of $6.57 billion, a PE ratio of 15.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.11.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.17). SLM had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 15.46%.The firm had revenue of $403.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $370.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. 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. Research analysts anticipate that SLM Corporation will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. SLM's dividend payout ratio 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.