Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Takes $754,000 Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 32,950 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $754,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SLM. Bridgewater Associates LP raised its position in SLM by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 370,727 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $8,479,000 after buying an additional 18,426 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in SLM by 42.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 71,892 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,644,000 after purchasing an additional 21,457 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in SLM in the 3rd quarter worth about $268,000. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP lifted its position in shares of SLM by 62.9% during the 3rd quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 177,840 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $4,067,000 after buying an additional 68,642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 150.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 56,766 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,298,000 after buying an additional 34,079 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on SLM. Bank of America began coverage on SLM in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a "buy" rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SLM has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $25.45.

SLM Trading Down 0.2 %

SLM stock traded down $0.06 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $26.50. The company had a trading volume of 1,709,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,397,650. The business has a 50 day moving average of $23.55 and a 200 day moving average of $22.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.23, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.21. SLM Co. has a 52 week low of $15.64 and a 52 week high of $28.22.

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

SLM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. SLM's payout ratio is presently 15.33%.

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.