Barclays PLC Acquires 119,796 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 77.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 273,785 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 119,796 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in SLM were worth $6,261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of SLM during the third quarter worth $31,000. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in SLM in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in SLM by 358.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of SLM during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLM during the second quarter valued at about $60,000. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SLM. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (up previously from $27.00) on shares of SLM in a report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the company’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 transaction of $122,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 83,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,265,292.50. This represents a 5.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

SLM Stock Performance

SLM stock opened at $27.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a PE ratio of 9.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.21. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $24.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.58. SLM Co. has a 1-year low of $18.04 and a 1-year high of $28.22.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) EPS 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 business had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This is an increase from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. SLM’s payout ratio is presently 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.