Vest Financial LLC Trims Stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Vest Financial LLC lessened its stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,259,583 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 31,570 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC owned approximately 0.59% of SLM worth $34,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SLM. State Street Corp increased its stake in SLM by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $158,342,000 after purchasing 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 in the last quarter. 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of SLM by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,758,057 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $40,207,000 after buying an additional 15,252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of SLM by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,114,083 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $25,479,000 after buying an additional 111,258 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total value of $1,142,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,163 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,166.91. This trade represents a 48.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SLM. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point increased their price target on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, SLM has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $29.82.

SLM Stock Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ SLM traded up $0.39 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $29.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,192,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,561,792. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.22. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $27.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.47. SLM Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.27 and a fifty-two week high of $31.49.

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 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. SLM's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.62%.

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.