Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. Grows Stock Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 25.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,365 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,726 shares during the quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings in SLM were worth $1,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 5.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 18,708 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 942 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of SLM by 358.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 294.9% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 51,248 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,172,000 after buying an additional 38,269 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in SLM during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in SLM by 2,187.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 66,254 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,515,000 after buying an additional 63,357 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

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

SLM Price Performance

SLM stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $30.10. 3,084,942 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,747,782. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.13. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.22.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. As a group, research analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. SLM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, SLM has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.91.

SLM Company 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.