Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $1.10 Million Stock Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its holdings in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 53,088 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,119 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in SLM were worth $1,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 lifted its position in shares of SLM by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 594,514 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $12,954,000 after purchasing an additional 97,442 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of SLM by 59.0% in the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 593,201 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $12,926,000 after purchasing an additional 220,154 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of SLM by 77.8% in the 1st 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, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in shares of SLM by 50.7% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 290,636 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,042,000 after purchasing an additional 97,832 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total value of $102,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 101,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,294,811.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of SLM stock opened at $22.76 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a PE ratio of 7.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. SLM Co. has a 12 month low of $12.26 and a 12 month high of $23.95.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $783.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $368.97 million. SLM had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 41.84%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. Analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 2.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of SLM in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of SLM from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLM has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.00.

SLM 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.