Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Cuts Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its position in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,837,342 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 8,564 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 5.10% of SLM worth $247,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in SLM in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of SLM by 358.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,094 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in SLM during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in SLM in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in SLM by 110.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 2,310 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on SLM. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on SLM in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.45.

SLM Trading Up 9.1 %

NASDAQ:SLM opened at $27.13 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s 50 day moving average is $22.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. SLM Co. has a 52 week low of $14.03 and a 52 week high of $27.18.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.40 million. SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. On average, analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 2.73 EPS for the current year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is a positive change from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is 15.33%.

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.