Wellington Management Group LLP Cuts Stake 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 shares of SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 95.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm 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 quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new stake in shares of SLM during the fourth quarter worth approximately $140,442,000. Duquesne Family Office LLC bought a new position in SLM during the fourth quarter worth about $69,509,000. M.D. Sass LLC bought a new position in shares of SLM during the first quarter worth approximately $37,317,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 797.4% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 704,971 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $19,443,000 after purchasing an additional 626,412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of SLM by 22.9% during 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 buying an additional 554,931 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of SLM in a report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up previously from $33.00) on shares of SLM in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of SLM from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on SLM in a report on Monday, August 25th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of SLM from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SLM presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $35.00.

SLM Stock Down 1.7%

NASDAQ:SLM traded down $0.54 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $31.23. 494,438 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,503,554. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.02. The company has a market capitalization of $6.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.11. SLM Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $19.64 and a fifty-two week high of $34.97. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.92.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $403.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $370.26 million. SLM had a net margin of 15.46% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. SLM's dividend payout ratio is 26.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kerri A. Palmer sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 119,253 shares in the company, valued at $3,841,139.13. This represents a 31.56% 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 company 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.