California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 67,123 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 15.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 380,673 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 67,123 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.18% of SLM worth $10,499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in SLM by 42.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 71,892 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,644,000 after acquiring an additional 21,457 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of SLM in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $274,000. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in shares of SLM by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 45,516 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 9,612 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in SLM by 136.9% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 38,618 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $884,000 after buying an additional 22,315 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in SLM by 107.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 34,388 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $786,000 after buying an additional 17,799 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on SLM from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $31.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total value of $1,142,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 43,163 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,233,166.91. This represents a 48.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

SLM Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ SLM traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $25.46. The stock had a trading volume of 2,519,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,167,321. SLM Co. has a 52-week low of $19.39 and a 52-week high of $32.65. The firm has a market cap of $5.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. The business's fifty day moving average price is $29.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share 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 expect that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. SLM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.62%.

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.