Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Increases Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,825 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 552 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in SLM were worth $933,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in SLM by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $158,342,000 after acquiring an additional 43,927 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in SLM by 2.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,687,920 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $118,248,000 after purchasing an additional 119,342 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 7.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,762,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $108,936,000 after purchasing an additional 331,490 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 3,800.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,406,384 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $55,034,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of SLM by 107.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,366,642 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $49,202,000 after buying an additional 1,224,015 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America started coverage on shares of SLM in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (up from $27.00) on shares of SLM in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total transaction of $122,625.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 83,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,265,292.50. This represents a 5.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of SLM stock opened at $28.20 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $26.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.49. The stock has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 9.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. SLM Co. has a 12 month low of $18.25 and a 12 month high of $28.91.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.30). The business 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 previous year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 2.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. This is an increase from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.12%.

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.