New York State Teachers Retirement System Cuts Stock Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 275,546 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 14,522 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.13% of SLM worth $7,600,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of SLM by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $158,342,000 after buying an additional 43,927 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of SLM by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,762,328 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $108,936,000 after buying an additional 331,490 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of SLM by 3,800.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,406,384 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $55,034,000 after buying an additional 2,344,691 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in SLM by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,758,057 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $40,207,000 after purchasing an additional 15,252 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of SLM by 11.1% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,114,083 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $25,479,000 after purchasing an additional 111,258 shares in the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

SLM Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of SLM stock traded down $1.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $30.68. 5,500,445 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,490,887. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.92. SLM Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.39 and a fifty-two 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 firm has a market cap of $6.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.22.

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 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. SLM's payout ratio is 19.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on SLM. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point upped their price target on shares of SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.91.

Insider Activity at SLM

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of SLM stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 83,130 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,265,292.50. The trade was a 5.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.