Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 8,182 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 27.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,775 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 8,182 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in SLM were worth $453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in SLM by 117.5% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 73,140 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 39,519 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in SLM by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 594,514 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $12,954,000 after acquiring an additional 97,442 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in SLM by 59.0% during the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 593,201 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $12,926,000 after acquiring an additional 220,154 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in SLM by 77.8% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 64,514 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,406,000 after purchasing an additional 28,236 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of SLM by 3.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 816,274 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,788,000 after purchasing an additional 26,064 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of SLM from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Wedbush lifted their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.00.

SLM Stock Performance

SLM stock opened at $22.07 on Tuesday. SLM Co. has a one year low of $12.26 and a one year high of $23.95. The firm has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.90, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.25.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.32. SLM had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 41.84%. The company had revenue of $783.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 2.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total transaction of $102,150.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 101,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,294,811.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.