Boston Partners Acquires 456,415 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,246,797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 456,415 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned 5.77% of SLM worth $338,889,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in SLM by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $158,342,000 after acquiring an additional 43,927 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,762,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $108,936,000 after buying an additional 331,490 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,758,057 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,207,000 after buying an additional 15,252 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SLM in the 4th quarter worth about $20,603,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in SLM by 2.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 669,263 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $15,306,000 after purchasing an additional 18,470 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. Barclays upped their target price on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on SLM from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Compass Point increased their price objective on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SLM currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.45.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of SLM stock opened at $29.26 on Tuesday. SLM Co. has a 1-year low of $19.39 and a 1-year high of $32.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $29.22 and its 200 day moving average is $25.93. The company has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.04, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

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

SLM Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total transaction of $1,142,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,233,166.91. The trade was a 48.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.