SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Shares Purchased by Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 283.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,866 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 44,272 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in SLM were worth $1,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in SLM by 117.5% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 73,140 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 39,519 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 50.7% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 290,636 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $6,042,000 after buying an additional 97,832 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 77.8% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 64,514 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,406,000 after buying an additional 28,236 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in SLM by 3.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 816,274 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $17,788,000 after acquiring an additional 26,064 shares during the period. Finally, Shikiar Asset Management Inc. raised its position in SLM by 19.5% in the second quarter. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. now owns 211,350 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $4,394,000 after acquiring an additional 34,550 shares in the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America assumed coverage on SLM in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a "buy" rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLM has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $25.45.

SLM Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:SLM traded down $0.03 on Thursday, reaching $24.02. The stock had a trading volume of 890,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,792,321. SLM Co. has a 12-month low of $13.93 and a 12-month high of $24.59. The company has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.16. The firm's fifty day moving average is $22.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. Equities analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 2.73 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.13 dividend. This is a boost from SLM's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. SLM's payout ratio is 18.12%.

SLM 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.