T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 2,768,741 SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,768,741 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $76,362,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.30% of SLM as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Amundi lifted 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 valued at $3,712,000 after acquiring an additional 68,632 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 9.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 18,754 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in SLM by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,246,797 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $338,889,000 after purchasing an additional 456,415 shares during the last quarter. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT bought a new position in SLM during the fourth quarter worth about $5,775,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in SLM by 35.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 415,607 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $9,596,000 after buying an additional 108,463 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SLM. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $33.00 price target (up previously from $31.00) on shares of SLM in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.73.

SLM Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ SLM traded up $0.89 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $29.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,307,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,209,125. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.22, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. SLM Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.39 and a fifty-two week high of $32.65. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.25. 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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $374.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $359.83 million. SLM had a net margin of 20.73% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm'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 earned $1.27 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. SLM's 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.