SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Shares Acquired by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 68,191 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in SLM were worth $1,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 0.6% in 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 buying an additional 43,927 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in SLM by 7.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 331,490 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 0.9% during the third 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 last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 worth $15,306,000 after purchasing an additional 18,470 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of SLM by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 415,607 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,596,000 after purchasing an additional 108,463 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point upped their price target on shares of SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.45.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SLM opened at $29.26 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $29.22 and a 200-day moving average of $25.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37. The firm has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.23. SLM Co. has a twelve month low of $19.39 and a twelve month high of $32.65.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. As a group, analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total value of $1,142,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 43,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,233,166.91. This represents a 48.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.