Sei Investments Co. Sells 384,272 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Sei Investments Co. decreased its position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 87.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,017 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 384,272 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in SLM were worth $1,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in SLM by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $158,342,000 after purchasing an additional 43,927 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of SLM by 103.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 135,014 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,712,000 after buying an additional 68,632 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of SLM by 136.9% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 38,618 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $884,000 after buying an additional 22,315 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its stake in SLM by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,246,797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $338,889,000 after buying an additional 456,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in SLM by 35.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 415,607 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,596,000 after acquiring an additional 108,463 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at SLM

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 43,163 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,166.91. This trade represents a 48.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

SLM Trading Down 6.7 %

Shares of SLM opened at $25.54 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.37 billion, a PE ratio of 9.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a net margin of 20.73% and a return on equity of 31.66%. As a group, research analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Compass Point boosted their target price on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.45.

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.