Diametric Capital LP Acquires Shares of 13,763 SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Diametric Capital LP acquired 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 Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 13,763 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $380,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SLM. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 86.4% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 971 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in SLM by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,849 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in SLM during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in SLM in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $114,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in SLM by 489.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,476 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 3,717 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on SLM shares. Barclays increased 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.45.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total transaction of $1,142,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

SLM Stock Performance

NASDAQ SLM traded down $2.77 on Thursday, hitting $27.37. 3,227,290 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,101,413. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $29.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $19.39 and a 1-year high of $32.65.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid 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 1.90%. SLM's payout ratio is 19.62%.

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.