ARGA Investment Management LP Buys 81,496 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

ARGA Investment Management LP raised its holdings in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 19.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 497,072 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 81,496 shares during the quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP owned about 0.22% of SLM worth $9,504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of SLM by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 11,786,932 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $225,574,000 after acquiring an additional 1,969,885 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of SLM by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,473,007 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $123,767,000 after purchasing an additional 170,764 shares during the last quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 9.1% in the third quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP now owns 4,282,732 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $58,331,000 after buying an additional 357,235 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in SLM by 967.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,923,491 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $39,818,000 after buying an additional 2,649,626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,570,065 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $35,004,000 after buying an additional 209,632 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLM news, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.72, for a total transaction of $1,949,296.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,093,000.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. TheStreet upgraded SLM from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on SLM from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $21.32.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of SLM stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Thursday, reaching $21.07. 1,206,484 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,026,379. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $21.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.02. SLM Co. has a twelve month low of $12.26 and a twelve month high of $22.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a PE ratio of 6.61, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67.

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

SLM announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 24th that allows the company to buyback $650.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

SLM Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. SLM's payout ratio is 13.75%.

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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