Redwood Investment Management LLC Sells 17,925 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Redwood Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 25.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,717 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 17,925 shares during the period. Redwood Investment Management LLC's holdings in SLM were worth $1,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SLM. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of SLM by 77.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 273,785 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $6,261,000 after purchasing an additional 119,796 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in SLM by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,825 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $933,000 after buying an additional 552 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of SLM during the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,000. Perpetual Ltd bought a new position in shares of SLM during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,488,000. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of SLM during the 4th quarter worth approximately $262,000. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SLM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their target price on 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 increased their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Compass Point raised their price objective on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total value of $93,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,096,324.25. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

SLM Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of SLM stock traded down $0.62 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $32.98. The company had a trading volume of 333,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,245,587. The company has a market cap of $6.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.27. SLM Co. has a 12 month low of $19.39 and a 12 month high of $33.94. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.23.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $374.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 firm posted $1.27 EPS. On average, research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. SLM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.