Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Buys New Shares in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt bought a new position in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 31,500 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $869,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of SLM during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in SLM during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in SLM by 358.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in SLM in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 110.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 2,310 shares in the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SLM Stock Down 0.3 %

SLM stock opened at $29.95 on Friday. SLM Co. has a 1-year low of $19.04 and a 1-year high of $31.49. The stock has a market cap of $6.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. Analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. SLM’s payout ratio is currently 19.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, SLM has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total value of $1,142,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 43,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,233,166.91. This trade represents a 48.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently 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.