SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Shares Purchased by Captrust Financial Advisors

Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 132.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,878 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 15,900 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors' holdings in SLM were worth $769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amundi raised its stake in shares of SLM by 103.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 135,014 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,712,000 after purchasing an additional 68,632 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in shares of SLM by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 223,692 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $6,169,000 after purchasing an additional 18,754 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in SLM by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,246,797 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $338,889,000 after buying an additional 456,415 shares in the last quarter. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT acquired a new position in SLM in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,775,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 26.4% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 107,126 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,955,000 after buying an additional 22,388 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on SLM shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of SLM from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.82.

SLM Stock Performance

SLM stock traded up $0.46 on Thursday, reaching $33.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 332,147 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,243,568. SLM Co. has a 52 week low of $19.39 and a 52 week high of $33.94. 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 capitalization of $6.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $29.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.27.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.27 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. SLM's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.