USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 10,746 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $316,000.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Amundi grew its position in shares of SLM by 103.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 135,014 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,712,000 after acquiring an additional 68,632 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its position in shares of SLM by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 223,692 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $6,169,000 after buying an additional 18,754 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in SLM during the 4th quarter valued at about $235,000. Boston Partners grew its holdings in SLM by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,246,797 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $338,889,000 after purchasing an additional 456,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Discovery Capital Management LLC CT bought a new position in SLM during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,775,000. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
SLM Stock Down 0.2%
SLM stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $31.63. The company had a trading volume of 1,740,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,258,149. The firm's fifty day moving average is $30.38 and its 200-day moving average is $29.19. SLM Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.39 and a fifty-two week high of $34.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.27.
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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $374.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $359.83 million. SLM had a net margin of 20.73% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business's revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.27 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.
SLM Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. SLM's payout ratio is 18.71%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total transaction of $93,450.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,096,324.25. This represents a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up from $33.00) on shares of SLM in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.30.
Get Our Latest Analysis on SLM
About SLM
(
Free Report)
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.
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