GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 1,663 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 32.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,740 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,663 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in SLM were worth $186,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in SLM by 0.6% in the third 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 stake in SLM in the 3rd quarter valued at $623,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in SLM by 50.7% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 290,636 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,042,000 after acquiring an additional 97,832 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in SLM during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,250,000. Finally, Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP boosted its position in SLM by 62.9% during the third quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 177,840 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,067,000 after purchasing an additional 68,642 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SLM. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of SLM in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.27.

Insider Activity at SLM

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total transaction of $122,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 83,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,265,292.50. The trade was a 5.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SLM opened at $27.49 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $26.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a PE ratio of 9.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.27. SLM Co. has a fifty-two week low of $18.04 and a fifty-two week high of $28.91.

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

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is a positive change from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.