Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd Acquires New Shares in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 10,800 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of SLM by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,594 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in SLM in the 3rd quarter worth about $623,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of SLM in the 3rd quarter valued at about $224,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of SLM by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,758,057 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,207,000 after acquiring an additional 15,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 150.2% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 56,766 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,298,000 after purchasing an additional 34,079 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SLM shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point lifted their price objective on shares of SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on SLM from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SLM currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.45.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of SLM stock opened at $29.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.23. SLM Co. has a one year low of $19.39 and a one year high of $32.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.85.

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

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is 19.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.