Ieq Capital LLC Acquires 23,999 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Ieq Capital LLC increased its holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 176.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,571 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 23,999 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in SLM were worth $1,036,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SLM. State Street Corp grew 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 worth $158,342,000 after acquiring an additional 43,927 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in SLM in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $623,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in SLM in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,250,000. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP raised its stake in SLM by 62.9% during the 3rd quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 177,840 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,067,000 after buying an additional 68,642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of SLM during the 3rd quarter valued at $268,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Compass Point lifted their price objective on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.91.

SLM Stock Down 0.3 %

SLM opened at $30.59 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $28.74 and its 200 day moving average is $25.07. SLM Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.39 and a fifty-two week high of $32.65.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 20.73% and a return on equity of 31.66%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.62%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 43,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Company 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.