Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys Shares of 747,040 SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 747,040 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $20,603,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.35% of SLM as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in SLM by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $158,342,000 after acquiring an additional 43,927 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 valued at $108,936,000 after acquiring an additional 331,490 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $40,207,000 after acquiring an additional 15,252 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in SLM by 2.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 669,263 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $15,306,000 after acquiring an additional 18,470 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in SLM by 35.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 415,607 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $9,596,000 after acquiring an additional 108,463 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on SLM from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Compass Point lifted their price target on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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 lifted their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, SLM currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the director now owns 43,163 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,233,166.91. This represents a 48.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

SLM Price Performance

NASDAQ:SLM traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $29.87. 3,640,089 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,949,879. SLM Co. has a one year low of $19.39 and a one year high of $32.65. The company has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $29.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 predict that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. SLM's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.62%.

About SLM

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.