Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $17.83 Million Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its position in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 932,407 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 67,863 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.41% of SLM worth $17,828,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in SLM by 967.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,923,491 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $39,818,000 after acquiring an additional 2,649,626 shares in the last quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP now owns 4,282,732 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $58,331,000 after purchasing an additional 357,235 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of SLM in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,131,000. Jump Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 1,100.2% in the third quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 262,897 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,581,000 after purchasing an additional 240,993 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in SLM by 26.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,020,173 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $13,895,000 after buying an additional 212,485 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SLM shares. TheStreet upgraded shares of SLM from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on SLM in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup raised shares of SLM from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $14.00 to $23.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on shares of SLM from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SLM currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $21.32.

Insider Activity at SLM

In related news, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.72, for a total transaction of $1,949,296.16. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,093,000.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.91% of the company's stock.

SLM Trading Up 2.5 %

SLM stock traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $22.01. The stock had a trading volume of 1,211,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,108,721. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $21.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.46. SLM Co. has a twelve month low of $12.26 and a twelve month high of $22.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.84 billion, a PE ratio of 6.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.17.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $837.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $376.43 million. SLM had a return on equity of 45.65% and a net margin of 25.15%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. Analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. SLM's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.75%.

SLM declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 24th that allows the company to repurchase $650.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 14.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.