Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 227,633 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 31.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 503,911 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 227,633 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.24% of SLM worth $11,524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in SLM by 3,800.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,406,384 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $55,034,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344,691 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,366,642 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $49,202,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,015 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 253.8% during the 2nd 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. raised its stake in shares of SLM by 23.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $92,589,000 after acquiring an additional 859,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in SLM by 69.1% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,002,825 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $20,849,000 after purchasing an additional 409,624 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on SLM. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a 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 report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on SLM in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a "buy" rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.27.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of SLM stock traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $27.55. The stock had a trading volume of 1,821,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,924,304. The firm has a market cap of $5.85 billion, a PE ratio of 9.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. SLM Co. has a one year low of $18.04 and a one year high of $28.24. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $25.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.90.

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

SLM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. This is a boost from SLM's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. SLM's payout ratio is presently 18.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of SLM stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total transaction of $122,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 83,130 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,265,292.50. This trade represents a 5.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

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.