SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Shares Bought by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. raised its position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,263 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 729 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in SLM were worth $669,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SLM. Boston Partners grew its holdings in SLM by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,246,797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $338,889,000 after acquiring an additional 456,415 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of SLM by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $158,342,000 after purchasing an additional 43,927 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,762,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $108,936,000 after purchasing an additional 331,490 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,758,057 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,207,000 after purchasing an additional 15,252 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in SLM during the fourth quarter worth about $20,603,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Compass Point increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SLM presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total value of $1,142,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 43,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,233,166.91. This trade represents a 48.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SLM opened at $30.04 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $6.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.23. SLM Co. has a 12 month low of $19.39 and a 12 month high of $32.65.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is 19.62%.

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.