Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys Shares of 12,825 SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 12,825 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $354,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in SLM by 7.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,762,328 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $108,936,000 after acquiring an additional 331,490 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake in SLM during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,488,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in SLM by 314.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 212,531 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $5,813,000 after purchasing an additional 161,283 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in SLM in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,250,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in SLM by 77.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 273,785 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $6,261,000 after buying an additional 119,796 shares in the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLM has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $31.45.

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SLM Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ SLM traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $28.88. 931,289 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,777,049. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.23. SLM Co. has a 52-week low of $19.39 and a 52-week high of $32.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.32. The business's fifty day moving average price is $29.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.72.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. Analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. SLM's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total transaction of $1,142,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 43,163 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,166.91. This represents a 48.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.