DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Sells 41,700 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lowered its holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 26.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,895 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 41,700 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned about 0.05% of SLM worth $2,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in SLM by 81.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of SLM by 257.3% in the 4th quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,805 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 2,020 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of SLM in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of SLM by 51.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,632 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 1,925 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of SLM by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 6,711 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SLM. TheStreet raised shares of SLM from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of SLM from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of SLM in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of SLM from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of SLM from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $23.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Three 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.95.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of SLM stock opened at $20.67 on Friday. SLM Co. has a twelve month low of $12.26 and a twelve month high of $21.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.16.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.15). SLM had a return on equity of 36.86% and a net margin of 20.65%. The business had revenue of $725.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $379.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.33) EPS. Analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. SLM’s payout ratio is presently 18.33%.

SLM announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $650.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to repurchase up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Donna F. Vieira sold 12,308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total value of $249,483.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,564,155. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of SLM stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.72, for a total transaction of $1,949,296.16. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,093,000.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Donna F. Vieira sold 12,308 shares of SLM stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total transaction of $249,483.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,564,155. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

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.