Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Purchases New Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 14,316 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of SLM by 117.5% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 73,140 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,594,000 after buying an additional 39,519 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its position in SLM by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 594,514 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $12,954,000 after buying an additional 97,442 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of SLM by 59.0% in the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 593,201 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $12,926,000 after purchasing an additional 220,154 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in SLM by 77.8% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 64,514 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,406,000 after buying an additional 28,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in SLM by 3.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 816,274 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,788,000 after acquiring an additional 26,064 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total value of $102,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 101,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,294,811.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on SLM shares. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wedbush boosted their price target on SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.00.

SLM Stock Performance

SLM opened at $22.07 on Tuesday. SLM Co. has a fifty-two week low of $12.26 and a fifty-two week high of $23.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a PE ratio of 6.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company’s 50-day moving average is $21.58 and its 200 day moving average is $21.25.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $783.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.97 million. SLM had a return on equity of 41.84% and a net margin of 24.67%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is 13.75%.

SLM Company 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.