BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 5,588 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lowered its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 66,304 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 5,588 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in SLM were worth $1,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SLM. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of SLM by 77.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 273,785 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,261,000 after purchasing an additional 119,796 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SLM during the fourth quarter worth about $202,000. Perpetual Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of SLM during the fourth quarter worth about $6,488,000. Dakota Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of SLM during the fourth quarter worth about $262,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of SLM by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,849 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total transaction of $93,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,096,324.25. This trade represents a 7.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

SLM Price Performance

NASDAQ:SLM opened at $33.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. SLM Co. has a 1 year low of $19.39 and a 1 year high of $33.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $374.97 million during 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 last year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders 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 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is 18.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on SLM. 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. Compass Point increased their target price on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. Barclays raised their price target on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two research 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, SLM has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.18.

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.