SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Shares Bought by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,368 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,029 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in SLM were worth $214,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in SLM during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 358.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SLM during the 2nd quarter worth about $60,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in SLM by 378.1% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,050 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in SLM by 13.3% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,077 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 594 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on SLM shares. Barclays lowered their price target on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.45.

SLM Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ SLM opened at $24.02 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.27. SLM Co. has a 12 month low of $13.93 and a 12 month high of $24.59. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $22.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.67.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.30). SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. The firm had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This is an increase from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. SLM’s payout ratio 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.