Sapient Capital LLC Has $229,000 Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Sapient Capital LLC lowered its holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 84.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,000 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 54,156 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC's holdings in SLM were worth $229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in SLM by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,136,784 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $633,575,000 after buying an additional 1,151,557 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in SLM by 5.7% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,461,356 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $271,626,000 after purchasing an additional 674,424 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $92,589,000 after purchasing an additional 859,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of SLM by 107.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,224,015 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their target price on SLM from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total value of $102,150.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 101,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,294,811.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

SLM Price Performance

SLM stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $23.18. The company had a trading volume of 1,133,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,786,537. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. The business has a 50 day moving average of $21.57 and a 200 day moving average of $21.41. SLM Co. has a fifty-two week low of $12.26 and a fifty-two week high of $23.95.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $783.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $368.97 million. SLM had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 41.84%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. SLM's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.71%.

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.