Quadrature Capital Ltd Makes New Investment in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 30,462 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $583,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in SLM by 81.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SLM in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of SLM in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of SLM by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,330 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 78.6% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,962 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SLM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of SLM from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of SLM from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.18.

SLM Trading Up 0.7 %

SLM stock opened at $20.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $21.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.19. SLM Co. has a one year low of $12.26 and a one year high of $22.74. The stock has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.16.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.18. SLM had a return on equity of 45.65% and a net margin of 25.15%. The company had revenue of $837.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $376.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 6th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.75%.

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.