SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Shares Bought by Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 208.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,866 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 66,789 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in SLM were worth $2,055,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SLM. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of SLM by 81.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in SLM in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of SLM by 1,373.3% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of SLM by 37.0% during the first quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 1,828 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of SLM in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Wedbush upped their price target on SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of SLM from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SLM presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.00.

SLM Price Performance

SLM stock traded down $0.04 on Wednesday, hitting $19.89. 685,960 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,926,539. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. The stock has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.17. SLM Co. has a 1-year low of $12.26 and a 1-year high of $23.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $21.39 and a 200-day moving average of $20.97.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $783.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $368.97 million. SLM had a return on equity of 41.84% and a net margin of 24.67%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 2.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total transaction of $102,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 101,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,294,811.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.