New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $6.23 Million Stock Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 225,764 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 13,600 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in SLM were worth $6,227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SLM. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in SLM by 7.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,762,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $108,936,000 after acquiring an additional 331,490 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new position in shares of SLM during the 4th quarter worth $6,488,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of SLM by 314.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 212,531 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,813,000 after purchasing an additional 161,283 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of SLM during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,250,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 124.8% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 222,264 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,083,000 after purchasing an additional 123,398 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at SLM

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total transaction of $122,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 83,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,265,292.50. This trade represents a 5.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

SLM Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of SLM stock opened at $30.10 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.22. SLM Co. has a 1 year low of $19.39 and a 1 year high of $32.65. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.17. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on SLM. Compass Point increased their target price on shares of SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, SLM currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.91.

SLM Company 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.