Victory Capital Management Inc. Lowers Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 40.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,926 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 45,945 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in SLM were worth $1,531,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of SLM by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,461,356 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $271,626,000 after buying an additional 674,424 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in SLM by 2.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,687,920 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $118,248,000 after acquiring an additional 119,342 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in SLM by 23.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $92,589,000 after purchasing an additional 859,625 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of SLM by 3,800.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,406,384 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $55,034,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,366,642 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $49,202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224,015 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays dropped their price target on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of SLM in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $27.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $25.45.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SLM traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $27.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,048,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,844,454. The company has a market cap of $5.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.16. SLM Co. has a 12-month low of $14.03 and a 12-month high of $28.22. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $23.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.29.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $363.40 million. SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 2.73 EPS for the current year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. This is a positive change from SLM's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. SLM's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.