Trust Investment Advisors Takes $237,000 Position in SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM)

Trust Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,072 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SLM. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in SLM during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in SLM by 37.7% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,714 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in SLM by 355.4% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,899 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,482 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co acquired a new stake in shares of SLM during the 1st quarter valued at about $132,000. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLM during the 1st quarter valued at about $214,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLM has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $40.00 price target (up from $33.00) on shares of SLM in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded SLM from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $29.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of SLM in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.40.

SLM Stock Performance

NASDAQ SLM traded up $0.44 during trading on Thursday, hitting $33.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,674,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,305,526. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $32.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.12. The firm has a market cap of $6.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.09. SLM Corporation has a 52 week low of $19.39 and a 52 week high of $34.97.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $374.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $359.83 million. SLM had a return on equity of 31.25% and a net margin of 21.05%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that SLM Corporation will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. SLM's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 3,000 shares of SLM stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total value of $93,450.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 35,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,096,324.25. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.