Intech Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 125,747 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,614,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of SLM by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,136,784 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $633,575,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,557 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 5.7% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,461,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $271,626,000 after buying an additional 674,424 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,687,920 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $118,248,000 after buying an additional 119,342 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in SLM by 23.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $92,589,000 after buying an additional 859,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in SLM in the 4th quarter worth $42,108,000. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of SLM 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 101,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,294,811.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

SLM Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of SLM stock opened at $22.07 on Monday. SLM Co. has a 52-week low of $12.26 and a 52-week high of $23.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a PE ratio of 6.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $21.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.24.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $783.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.97 million. SLM had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 41.84%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 2.83 EPS for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is 13.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush lifted their price target on SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.00.

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.