Pinebridge Investments L.P. Acquires 23,603 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. boosted its holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 42.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,895 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 23,603 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P.'s holdings in SLM were worth $2,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of SLM by 86.4% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 971 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of SLM during the 4th quarter valued at $86,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of SLM during the 4th quarter worth $114,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in SLM by 489.7% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on 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 raised their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.73.

SLM Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of SLM traded up $1.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $31.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,562,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,226,555. SLM Co. has a 52 week low of $19.39 and a 52 week high of $32.65. The stock has a market cap of $6.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company's fifty day moving average price is $28.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $374.97 million during 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%. SLM's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. On average, analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. SLM's payout ratio is currently 18.71%.

SLM 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.