WINTON GROUP Ltd Purchases 8,654 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its position in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 40.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,205 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,654 shares during the quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in SLM were worth $833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of SLM. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of SLM by 86.4% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 971 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of SLM in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,849 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of SLM in the fourth quarter worth $86,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of SLM during the fourth quarter valued at $114,000. 98.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of SLM stock opened at $28.90 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.23. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $29.59 and its 200 day moving average is $26.45. SLM Co. has a one year low of $19.39 and a one year high of $32.65.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted 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 return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.62%.

Insider Transactions at SLM

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total value of $1,142,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 43,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,233,166.91. This represents a 48.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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. Barclays boosted their price objective 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 raised their target price on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, 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 note on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.45.

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.