Teacher Retirement System of Texas Lowers Stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas cut its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 89.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,648 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 101,785 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in SLM were worth $321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in SLM by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,849 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of SLM by 86.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 971 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of SLM by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,825 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $933,000 after buying an additional 552 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in SLM by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 24,263 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $669,000 after buying an additional 729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in SLM by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 9,052 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 960 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SLM currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.45.

Insider Transactions at SLM

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total value of $1,142,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 43,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,233,166.91. This represents a 48.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of SLM opened at $29.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.61. The firm has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a PE ratio of 11.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37. SLM Co. has a 1-year low of $19.39 and a 1-year high of $32.65.

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

SLM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is 19.62%.

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.