SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Shares Bought by Cwm LLC

CWM LLC increased its holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 187.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 42,899 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 27,982 shares during the period. CWM LLC's holdings in SLM were worth $981,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,151,557 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its position 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in SLM by 2.1% in the second 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 during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in SLM by 23.9% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of SLM by 107.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,366,642 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $49,202,000 after buying an additional 1,224,015 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of SLM stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 101,093 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,294,811.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

SLM Stock Down 1.8 %

SLM traded down $0.43 on Friday, reaching $23.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,294,068 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,779,290. The company has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. SLM Co. has a fifty-two week low of $12.26 and a fifty-two week high of $23.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $21.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.45.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.32. SLM had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 41.84%. The firm had revenue of $783.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $368.97 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 2.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on SLM from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of SLM in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. 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 note on Thursday, July 25th. Wedbush decreased their target price on SLM from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.83.

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.