Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. reduced its holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,936,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 102,694 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in SLM were worth $67,155,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SLM. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in SLM during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of SLM in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in SLM by 358.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in SLM in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLM during the 2nd quarter valued at about $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SLM shares. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of SLM in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Two equities 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.45.

SLM Stock Performance

NASDAQ SLM opened at $26.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.01. SLM Co. has a twelve month low of $15.64 and a twelve month high of $28.22. 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 market cap of $5.64 billion, a PE ratio of 9.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.21.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.40 million. SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. This is a positive change from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.33%.

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.