SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Holdings Trimmed by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its position in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 2.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 264,163 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 7,021 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in SLM were worth $6,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SLM. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of SLM by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,594 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in SLM by 13.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,077 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 594 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in SLM by 5.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 18,708 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $428,000 after buying an additional 942 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 12.3% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,368 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 1,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of SLM by 358.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at SLM

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total value of $122,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 83,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,265,292.50. The trade was a 5.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SLM shares. Bank of America started coverage on SLM in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on 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. raised their target price on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SLM currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.80.

SLM Trading Down 2.9 %

SLM stock opened at $26.87 on Thursday. SLM Co. has a 12 month low of $18.04 and a 12 month high of $28.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The stock has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.54.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.30). SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. The firm had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 2.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is a positive change from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is 18.12%.

About SLM

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.