Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 45,945 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 40.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 66,926 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 45,945 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in SLM were worth $1,531,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Partners raised 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 purchasing an additional 674,424 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in SLM by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,687,920 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $118,248,000 after buying an additional 119,342 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in SLM by 23.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $92,589,000 after buying an additional 859,625 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in SLM by 3,800.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,406,384 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $55,034,000 after buying an additional 2,344,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,366,642 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $49,202,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,015 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SLM Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SLM opened at $27.88 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.92 billion, a PE ratio of 9.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.16. SLM Co. has a 52-week low of $14.03 and a 52-week high of $28.22.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.30). SLM had a net margin of 22.18% and a return on equity of 35.92%. The company had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 2.73 EPS for the current year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This is a boost from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is 15.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on SLM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on SLM in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.45.

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.