Sycale Advisors NY LLC Cuts Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Sycale Advisors NY LLC cut its holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 24.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 334,035 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 109,757 shares during the quarter. SLM accounts for approximately 2.4% of Sycale Advisors NY LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Sycale Advisors NY LLC owned approximately 0.16% of SLM worth $9,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,849 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 86.4% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 971 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 24,263 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $669,000 after buying an additional 729 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 9,052 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 960 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SLM. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on SLM from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their target price on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLM currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.82.

SLM Price Performance

SLM stock traded down $0.81 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $32.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,181,988 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,250,961. SLM Co. has a 1 year low of $19.39 and a 1 year high of $33.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37. The company has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company's fifty day moving average is $29.15 and its 200-day moving average is $28.23.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.21. SLM had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. The business had revenue of $374.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $359.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. SLM's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. SLM's payout ratio is presently 18.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 now owns 35,195 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,324.25. This trade represents a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently 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.