Vest Financial LLC Boosts Stock Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,291,153 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 186,522 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC owned approximately 0.59% of SLM worth $29,529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in SLM by 107.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,224,015 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 253.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,290,997 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $26,840,000 after acquiring an additional 926,120 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 859,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in SLM by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,461,356 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $271,626,000 after acquiring an additional 674,424 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on SLM. Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of SLM from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. Bank of America started coverage on SLM in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $24.83.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of SLM stock traded down $0.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $23.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,294,140 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,779,290. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $21.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.45. SLM Co. has a one year low of $12.26 and a one year high of $23.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.15.

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

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th were paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. SLM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.75%.

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.