Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Has $238,000 Stock Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lowered its holdings in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM - Free Report) by 86.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,400 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 68,927 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd's holdings in SLM were worth $238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of SLM during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in SLM during the third quarter worth $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 358.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of SLM in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of SLM in the 2nd quarter worth about $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at SLM

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of SLM stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total value of $122,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 83,130 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,265,292.50. This trade represents a 5.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLM has been the subject of several analyst reports. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays decreased their price target on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (up previously from $27.00) on shares of SLM in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.27.

SLM Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SLM traded up $0.60 during trading on Thursday, hitting $27.47. 4,258,422 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,888,478. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $24.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.58. SLM Co. has a 1-year low of $18.04 and a 1-year high of $28.22. The firm has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.57, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM - Get Free Report) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.40 million. SLM had a net margin of 22.18% and a return on equity of 35.92%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. Equities analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. This is a positive change from SLM's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. SLM's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.