State Street Corp Grows Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 43,927 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned about 3.26% of SLM worth $158,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in SLM during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLM during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of SLM by 358.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in SLM in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in SLM during the second quarter worth about $60,000. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the firm's 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. This trade represents a 5.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (up from $27.00) on shares of SLM in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $26.80.

SLM Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ SLM traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $27.18. 2,562,758 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,857,463. The stock has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.27. SLM Co. has a one year low of $17.94 and a one year high of $28.22. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.39.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 2.73 EPS for the current year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. This is a positive change from SLM's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. SLM's payout ratio is presently 18.12%.

About SLM

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.