Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys Shares of 12,825 SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 12,825 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $354,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of SLM by 7.5% during the 3rd 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of SLM by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,758,057 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,207,000 after purchasing an additional 15,252 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of SLM by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,114,083 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $25,479,000 after purchasing an additional 111,258 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of SLM by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 669,263 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $15,306,000 after purchasing an additional 18,470 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SLM shares. Compass Point lifted their price target on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on SLM from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.45.

Insider Activity at SLM

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of SLM stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total transaction of $1,142,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 43,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,233,166.91. This trade represents a 48.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of SLM stock opened at $28.80 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a PE ratio of 10.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37. SLM Co. has a 12 month low of $19.39 and a 12 month high of $32.65.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. SLM’s payout ratio is 19.62%.

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.