Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,473,007 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 170,764 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 2.86% of SLM worth $123,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLM. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,891 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,328 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its stake in SLM by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,330 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp lifted its stake in SLM by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 138,686 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,652,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in SLM by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 9,033 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at SLM

In other news, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 52,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,093,000.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of SLM from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of SLM from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of SLM from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.32.

SLM Stock Down 2.3 %

SLM traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $20.67. The company had a trading volume of 1,655,543 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,011,866. SLM Co. has a 52 week low of $12.26 and a 52 week high of $22.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67. The company has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.46, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.17. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $21.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.22.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. SLM had a net margin of 25.15% and a return on equity of 45.65%. The firm had revenue of $837.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $376.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

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 given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 6th. SLM's payout ratio is presently 13.75%.

About SLM

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.