Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Has $6.95 Million Stock Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 41.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 251,949 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 74,109 shares during the period. SLM accounts for 1.6% of Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP owned about 0.12% of SLM worth $6,949,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in SLM by 0.6% during 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 period. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of SLM during the third quarter worth $3,250,000. Amundi boosted its position in SLM by 103.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 135,014 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,712,000 after buying an additional 68,632 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of SLM in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $268,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of SLM by 136.9% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 38,618 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $884,000 after purchasing an additional 22,315 shares in the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. 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 upped their target price on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SLM has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.45.

SLM Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of SLM stock traded down $0.67 on Friday, hitting $29.07. The company had a trading volume of 226,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,035,283. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.23. SLM Co. has a twelve month low of $19.39 and a twelve month high of $32.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.58 and a 200-day moving average of $26.34. 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 (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 20.73% and a return on equity of 31.66%. Research analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. SLM's payout ratio is 19.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other SLM news, 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 value of $1,142,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,163 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,233,166.91. This represents a 48.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

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.