Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Lowers Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund cut its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 45,643 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 8,800 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in SLM were worth $949,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 1,373.3% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 37.0% in the first quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 1,828 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of SLM in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of SLM in the second quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 78.6% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,962 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,304 shares in the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total value of $102,150.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 101,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,294,811.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

SLM Trading Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ:SLM opened at $20.15 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $21.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.19. SLM Co. has a 1 year low of $12.26 and a 1 year high of $23.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

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

SLM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th will be given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Wedbush increased their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Three research 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.00.

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.