SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Shares Sold by Heritage Investors Management Corp

Heritage Investors Management Corp reduced its position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 165,480 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 6,500 shares during the quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp owned approximately 0.08% of SLM worth $4,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SLM. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 43,927 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 331,490 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew 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 worth $40,207,000 after acquiring an additional 15,252 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of SLM by 11.1% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,114,083 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $25,479,000 after acquiring an additional 111,258 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of SLM by 2.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 669,263 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $15,306,000 after acquiring an additional 18,470 shares in the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SLM Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of SLM stock opened at $30.10 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.17. The stock has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.22. SLM Co. has a 12-month low of $19.39 and a 12-month high of $32.65.

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

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total transaction of $1,142,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 43,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,233,166.91. This represents a 48.10 % decrease in their position. 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SLM presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.91.

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.