Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC Sells 21,346 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,367 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 21,346 shares during the quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in SLM were worth $1,175,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in SLM by 362.9% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 338,534 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $7,038,000 after purchasing an additional 265,394 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its position in shares of SLM by 50.7% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 290,636 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $6,042,000 after acquiring an additional 97,832 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake 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 valued at $17,788,000 after acquiring an additional 26,064 shares in the last quarter. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in SLM by 19.5% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, Redwood Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in SLM during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,504,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America began coverage on SLM in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a "buy" rating and a $27.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays cut 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, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $25.45.

SLM Trading Up 1.9 %

SLM stock traded up $0.45 during trading on Friday, hitting $24.47. 1,385,285 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,899,074. The company has a 50-day moving average of $22.46 and a 200-day moving average of $21.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.29. SLM Co. has a 1 year low of $13.93 and a 1 year high of $24.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of 8.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.16.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last announced 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). SLM had a net margin of 22.18% and a return on equity of 35.92%. The firm had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $363.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. Analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This is an increase from SLM's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. SLM's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.33%.

About SLM

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.