Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Has $613,000 Stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 277.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,227 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 16,334 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in SLM were worth $613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLM. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake 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 worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of SLM by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,849 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of SLM in the fourth quarter worth about $86,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of SLM in the fourth quarter worth about $114,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of SLM by 489.7% in 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 last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SLM. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point upped their target price on shares of SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.73.

SLM Trading Up 3.7 %

SLM stock traded up $1.08 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $29.99. 3,119,350 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,216,035. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $28.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $6.31 billion, a PE ratio of 11.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. SLM Co. has a one year low of $19.39 and a one year high of $32.65.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $374.97 million for 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. SLM's dividend payout ratio is 18.71%.

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.