Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Grows Stock Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 283.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 59,866 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 44,272 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in SLM were worth $1,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SLM. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of SLM by 5.7% in the 1st 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of SLM by 2.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 119,342 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 859,625 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 3,800.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,406,384 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $55,034,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344,691 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in SLM by 107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,366,642 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $49,202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224,015 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Stock Down 0.1 %

SLM stock opened at $24.05 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.65. The company has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.38, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.16. SLM Co. has a twelve month low of $13.93 and a twelve month high of $24.59.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released 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 company had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This is an increase from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SLM shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.45.

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.