12,825 Shares in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Bought by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 12,825 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $354,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SLM. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 331,490 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd bought a new position in SLM in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,488,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in SLM by 314.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 212,531 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,813,000 after buying an additional 161,283 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in SLM during the 3rd quarter worth $3,250,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in SLM by 77.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 273,785 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,261,000 after buying an additional 119,796 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Stock Down 1.2 %

SLM stock opened at $30.04 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.23. SLM Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.39 and a fifty-two week high of $32.65. The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.51 and a 200-day moving average of $26.29.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is 19.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SLM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays raised their price target on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of 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 target price on SLM from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, SLM presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.45.

Insider Activity 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 shares were sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total transaction of $1,142,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company 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.