NewEdge Advisors LLC Buys New Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 20,031 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $552,000.

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

SLM Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SLM traded up $0.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $30.78. 664,201 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,210,839. SLM Co. has a twelve month low of $19.39 and a twelve month high of $32.65. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a PE ratio of 11.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $374.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $359.83 million. SLM had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. SLM's payout ratio is currently 18.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $33.00 target price (up previously from $31.00) on shares of SLM in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.73.

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.