Vise Technologies Inc. Buys New Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,623 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in SLM by 86.4% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 971 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in SLM by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,849 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of SLM in the fourth quarter valued at $86,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of SLM in the fourth quarter valued at $114,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of SLM by 489.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,476 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 3,717 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 3,000 shares of the business'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 directly 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SLM traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $32.38. 4,115,041 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,270,651. 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 12 month low of $19.39 and a 12 month high of $34.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $29.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.76.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $374.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $359.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. SLM's payout ratio is 18.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up from $33.00) on shares of SLM in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $31.82.

SLM 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.