Root Financial Partners LLC Makes New Investment in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,908 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLM. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $158,342,000 after buying an additional 43,927 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of SLM during the 3rd quarter valued at $623,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of SLM during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,250,000. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of SLM by 62.9% during the 3rd quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 177,840 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,067,000 after purchasing an additional 68,642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of SLM during the 3rd quarter valued at $268,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

SLM Trading Up 4.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ SLM opened at $31.43 on Friday. SLM Co. has a 1-year low of $19.39 and a 1-year high of $31.49. The company has a market cap of $6.67 billion, a PE ratio of 11.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37. The company has a 50-day moving average of $28.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.57.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 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 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on SLM shares. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point lifted their target price on shares of SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.82.

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.