Axa S.A. Takes Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Axa S.A. purchased a new position in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 242,721 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,046,000. Axa S.A. owned about 0.11% of SLM as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in SLM by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,136,784 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $633,575,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,557 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 5.7% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,461,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $271,626,000 after buying an additional 674,424 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in SLM by 2.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,687,920 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $118,248,000 after acquiring an additional 119,342 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in SLM by 23.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $92,589,000 after acquiring an additional 859,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in SLM by 23.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,104,631 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $22,965,000 after acquiring an additional 210,515 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLM has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen boosted their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Bank of America assumed coverage on SLM in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SLM presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 101,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,294,811.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of SLM stock opened at $22.56 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $21.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.28. SLM Co. has a one year low of $12.26 and a one year high of $23.95.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.32. SLM had a return on equity of 41.84% and a net margin of 24.67%. The company had revenue of $783.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 2.83 EPS for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.75%.

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.