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 SLM stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SLM opened at $27.91 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $27.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.27. SLM Co. has a one year low of $18.84 and a one year high of $31.49. The company has a market capitalization of $5.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.21.

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

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SLM. State Street Corp lifted its position 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 buying an additional 43,927 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of SLM by 7.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,762,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $108,936,000 after buying an additional 331,490 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of SLM by 3,800.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,406,384 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $55,034,000 after buying an additional 2,344,691 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 15,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of SLM by 16.9% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,291,153 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $29,529,000 after buying an additional 186,522 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SLM shares. Barclays decreased their target price on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Compass Point lifted their target price on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report 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. According to MarketBeat, SLM presently has a consensus 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.