GAMMA Investing LLC Has $186,000 Stock Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 32.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,740 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,663 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in SLM were worth $186,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in SLM in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of SLM in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position 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 buying an additional 1,094 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of SLM during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of SLM by 110.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 2,310 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

SLM Price Performance

NASDAQ SLM opened at $27.49 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.58, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.29. SLM Co. has a 52-week low of $18.04 and a 52-week high of $28.91.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.40 million. SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. Analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. This is a positive change from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is 18.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SLM shares. Bank of America started coverage on shares of SLM in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective (up from $27.00) on shares of SLM in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays reduced their target price on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.27.

Insider Transactions at SLM

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of SLM stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total value of $122,625.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 83,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,265,292.50. The trade was a 5.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.