SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) Holdings Lifted by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) by 1.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 57,802 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in SLM were worth $1,698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SLM. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of SLM during the fourth quarter valued at $354,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new position in SLM in the fourth quarter valued at about $405,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in SLM by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 24,089 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $664,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its stake in SLM by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 24,263 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in SLM by 85.1% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 21,700 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 9,974 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Price Performance

NASDAQ SLM opened at $32.83 on Friday. SLM Corporation has a twelve month low of $19.39 and a twelve month high of $34.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.19.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. SLM had a return on equity of 31.25% and a net margin of 21.05%. The business had revenue of $374.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $359.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that SLM Corporation will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on SLM. Barclays boosted their target price on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of SLM in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded SLM from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $29.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $40.00 target price (up previously from $33.00) on shares of SLM in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 3,000 shares of the company’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 value of $93,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 35,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,096,324.25. This represents a 7.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.