Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd Takes $298,000 Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 10,800 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of SLM by 0.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 43,927 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in SLM by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,762,328 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $108,936,000 after purchasing an additional 331,490 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in SLM by 0.9% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 15,252 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of SLM during the 4th quarter valued at $20,603,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings 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. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of SLM stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 43,163 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,233,166.91. The trade was a 48.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

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SLM Price Performance

Shares of SLM stock traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $29.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,669,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,949,994. The company has a market cap of $6.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.27, a PEG 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $29.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.01. SLM Co. has a 12-month low of $19.39 and a 12-month high of $32.65.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. Analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Compass Point boosted their price target on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on SLM from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLM currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $31.45.

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.