SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Shares Bought by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 150.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,766 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 34,079 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in SLM were worth $1,298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SLM. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in SLM by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,687,920 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $118,248,000 after purchasing an additional 119,342 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in SLM by 23.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $92,589,000 after acquiring an additional 859,625 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in SLM by 3,800.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,406,384 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $55,034,000 after acquiring an additional 2,344,691 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in SLM by 107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,366,642 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $49,202,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,015 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 15,252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of SLM in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two 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 an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $25.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total value of $122,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 83,130 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,265,292.50. This represents a 5.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

SLM Stock Performance

SLM traded up $0.34 on Wednesday, hitting $26.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,863,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,852,278. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $23.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.09. 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 12 month low of $15.64 and a 12 month high of $28.22. The firm has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.21.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.30). SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. The company had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 2.73 EPS for the current year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This is an increase from SLM's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. SLM's payout ratio is currently 18.12%.

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.