Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Buys 2,636 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 224,900 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,636 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in SLM were worth $6,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in SLM by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $158,342,000 after acquiring an additional 43,927 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 2.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,687,920 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $118,248,000 after purchasing an additional 119,342 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of SLM by 7.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,762,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $108,936,000 after purchasing an additional 331,490 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in SLM by 23.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $92,589,000 after purchasing an additional 859,625 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in SLM by 3,800.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,406,384 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $55,034,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344,691 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of SLM opened at $26.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The stock has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $26.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.32. SLM Co. has a 52 week low of $18.25 and a 52 week high of $28.91.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its 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). SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. The company had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is a positive change from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their price objective on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (up from $27.00) on shares of SLM in a report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of SLM in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, SLM currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of SLM stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total value of $122,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 83,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,265,292.50. This trade 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. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.