Wealthfront Advisers LLC Invests $536,000 in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 19,428 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $536,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased 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 valued at $158,342,000 after purchasing an additional 43,927 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 valued at $108,936,000 after purchasing an additional 331,490 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased 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 valued at $40,207,000 after purchasing an additional 15,252 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SLM during the 4th quarter valued at $20,603,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 669,263 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $15,306,000 after acquiring an additional 18,470 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SLM. Compass Point boosted their target price on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on SLM from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.45.

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Insider Transactions at SLM

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total transaction of $1,142,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 43,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,166.91. This represents a 48.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

SLM Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ SLM traded down $0.24 on Thursday, reaching $29.87. The stock had a trading volume of 3,640,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,949,879. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $29.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.01. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $19.39 and a 1 year high of $32.65. The company has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.23.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a net margin of 20.73% and a return on equity of 31.66%. On average, analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. SLM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.