Kaizen Financial Strategies Acquires New Shares in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Kaizen Financial Strategies bought a new position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,538 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in SLM by 60.1% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 16,785 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $463,000 after buying an additional 6,299 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. bought a new position in shares of SLM during the 4th quarter valued at $243,000. Duquesne Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLM in the 4th quarter valued at $69,509,000. Epacria Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in SLM by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Epacria Capital Partners LLC now owns 58,003 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,600,000 after purchasing an additional 5,252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in SLM by 132.7% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 27,878 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $769,000 after buying an additional 15,900 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $33.00 price target (up previously from $31.00) on shares of SLM in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.73.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total transaction of $93,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

SLM Trading Up 0.7 %

SLM stock opened at $32.18 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $28.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.68. 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 $32.65. The stock has a market cap of $6.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 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 business had revenue of $374.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $359.83 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. SLM's revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. 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.

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