WINTON GROUP Ltd Has $833,000 Stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its holdings in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 40.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,205 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,654 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd's holdings in SLM were worth $833,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SLM. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 86.4% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 971 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in SLM in the third quarter worth $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in SLM by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,849 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of SLM during the fourth quarter valued at $86,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of SLM during the fourth quarter worth about $114,000. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SLM Price Performance

NASDAQ:SLM traded down $2.76 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $27.38. 738,130 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,048,287. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $29.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.64. SLM Co. has a 1-year low of $19.39 and a 1-year high of $32.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.33, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05.

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SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. Research analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. SLM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SLM. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on SLM from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Two 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 presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $31.45.

Insider Transactions at SLM

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 43,163 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,233,166.91. This 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 at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

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.