Tidal Investments LLC Increases Stock Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 797.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 704,971 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 626,412 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC owned approximately 0.33% of SLM worth $19,443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Steamboat Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SLM in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,374,000. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of SLM by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,935 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of SLM by 74.0% in the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 59,841 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,650,000 after acquiring an additional 25,453 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of SLM in the 4th quarter valued at about $777,000. Finally, Mubadala Investment Co PJSC purchased a new stake in shares of SLM in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,502,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up from $33.00) on shares of SLM in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on SLM from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $31.82.

Insider Transactions at SLM

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 3,000 shares of SLM stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total value of $93,450.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 35,195 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,324.25. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

SLM Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of SLM stock traded down $0.07 on Friday, hitting $33.58. The stock had a trading volume of 2,003,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,257,425. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37. SLM Co. has a one year low of $19.39 and a one year high of $33.95. The stock has a market cap of $7.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.67, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $29.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.46.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.21. SLM had a net margin of 20.73% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm had revenue of $374.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $359.83 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. SLM's dividend payout ratio is 18.71%.

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.