SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 424,015 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 36,404 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in SLM were worth $8,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position 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 during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in SLM during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position 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 during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in SLM during the third quarter worth about $144,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in SLM by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,891 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SLM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of SLM from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of SLM in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of SLM from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup upgraded shares of SLM from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $23.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of SLM from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.32.

SLM Price Performance

SLM stock opened at $22.01 on Friday. SLM Co. has a 1 year low of $12.26 and a 1 year high of $22.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $21.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.46. The company has a market cap of $4.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.88, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.18. SLM had a net margin of 25.15% and a return on equity of 45.65%. The firm had revenue of $837.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $376.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.75%.

SLM declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other SLM 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,093,000.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.