Truist Financial Corp Sells 293,796 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Truist Financial Corp lessened its holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 28.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 738,803 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 293,796 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned 0.34% of SLM worth $15,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in SLM by 1,373.3% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of SLM in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of SLM during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $60,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of SLM by 78.6% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,962 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in SLM by 378.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,050 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 2,412 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the company’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 transaction of $102,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 101,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,294,811.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America started coverage on SLM in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wedbush decreased their price target on shares of SLM from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLM has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.00.

SLM Trading Up 3.4 %

NASDAQ:SLM opened at $22.76 on Friday. SLM Co. has a 52 week low of $12.26 and a 52 week high of $23.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $21.38 and its 200-day moving average is $21.32. The firm has a market cap of $5.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.32. SLM had a return on equity of 41.84% and a net margin of 24.67%. The firm had revenue of $783.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $368.97 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. Equities analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. SLM’s payout ratio is presently 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.