Stifel Financial Corp Has $321,000 Stock Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Stifel Financial Corp cut its stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,026 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,302 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in SLM were worth $321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in SLM by 3,800.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,406,384 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $55,034,000 after buying an additional 2,344,691 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of SLM by 107.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,366,642 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $49,202,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,015 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 253.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,290,997 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,840,000 after purchasing an additional 926,120 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of SLM by 23.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $92,589,000 after purchasing an additional 859,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of SLM by 69.1% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,002,825 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,849,000 after purchasing an additional 409,624 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SLM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $30.00 target price (up previously from $27.00) on shares of SLM in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLM currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.27.

SLM Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ SLM opened at $27.87 on Friday. SLM Co. has a twelve month low of $18.04 and a twelve month high of $28.24. The firm has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a PE ratio of 9.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 prior year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. Analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. This is a boost from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is presently 18.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total transaction of $122,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 83,130 shares in the company, valued at $2,265,292.50. This trade represents a 5.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

SLM 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.