Signaturefd LLC Has $151,000 Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,891 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in SLM were worth $151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in SLM by 81.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in SLM during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in SLM by 51.9% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,632 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 1,925 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in SLM by 10.4% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 9,033 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in SLM during the third quarter worth about $144,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of SLM opened at $21.90 on Monday. SLM Co. has a 52-week low of $12.26 and a 52-week high of $22.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $20.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.30. The firm has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a PE ratio of 6.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.16.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.18. SLM had a return on equity of 45.65% and a net margin of 25.15%. The firm had revenue of $837.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $376.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is 13.75%.

SLM declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 24th that permits the company to buyback $650.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 14.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on SLM shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on SLM from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on SLM in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upgraded SLM from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $23.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. TheStreet upgraded SLM from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on SLM from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.32.

Insider Transactions at SLM

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