Arizona State Retirement System Sells 5,231 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Arizona State Retirement System reduced its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 56,880 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 5,231 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in SLM were worth $1,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SLM. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 967.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,923,491 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,818,000 after purchasing an additional 2,649,626 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of SLM in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,054,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of SLM by 53.0% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,530,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $83,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,570,000 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of SLM by 1,097.1% in the first quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,524,886 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $18,892,000 after acquiring an additional 1,397,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of SLM by 17.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,605,432 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $81,839,000 after acquiring an additional 988,172 shares in the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SLM Trading Up 0.2 %

SLM opened at $20.72 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $20.65 and its 200-day moving average is $17.79. SLM Co. has a 1-year low of $12.26 and a 1-year high of $21.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The company has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.63, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.16.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.15). SLM had a net margin of 20.65% and a return on equity of 36.86%. The company had revenue of $725.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $379.20 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.33) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 24th that allows the company to buyback $650.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 14.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. SLM’s payout ratio is currently 18.33%.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLM has been the topic of several research reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of SLM from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of SLM in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of SLM from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup upgraded shares of SLM from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of SLM from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.95.

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.