LPL Financial LLC Increases Stock Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 18.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,954 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in SLM were worth $357,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SLM. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in SLM in the 4th quarter worth $1,611,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of SLM by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,175,645 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $142,744,000 after buying an additional 338,128 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in SLM by 85.1% during the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 21,700 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $598,000 after buying an additional 9,974 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its position in shares of SLM by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 24,263 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $669,000 after buying an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in SLM by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,246,797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $338,889,000 after buying an additional 456,415 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Compass Point lifted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SLM presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.73.

SLM Trading Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ SLM opened at $27.75 on Friday. SLM Co. has a one year low of $19.39 and a one year high of $32.65. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $28.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.16. The firm has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a PE ratio of 10.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly 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 analysts’ expectations of $359.83 million. SLM had a net margin of 20.73% and a return on equity of 31.66%. Analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is currently 19.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total transaction of $1,142,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 43,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,233,166.91. This represents a 48.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.