SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Director Sells $1,142,800.00 in Stock

SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,166.91. The trade was a 48.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

SLM Stock Up 0.1 %

SLM opened at $28.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.10 billion, a PE ratio of 10.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.32. SLM Co. has a 1 year low of $18.84 and a 1 year high of $31.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $27.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.09.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. Sell-side analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.62%.

Institutional Trading of SLM

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in SLM during the 4th quarter valued at $218,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of SLM by 314.7% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 212,531 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,813,000 after acquiring an additional 161,283 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of SLM during the fourth quarter worth about $86,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt acquired a new position in shares of SLM in the fourth quarter worth about $869,000. Finally, Moody Aldrich Partners LLC purchased a new position in SLM in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,776,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on SLM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, SLM presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.82.

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.