Summit Trail Advisors LLC Has $507,000 Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Summit Trail Advisors LLC trimmed its position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,400 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 586 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC’s holdings in SLM were worth $507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SLM. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in SLM in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of SLM during the third quarter worth $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 358.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,094 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of SLM in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in SLM during the 4th quarter worth $86,000. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of SLM stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 43,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,233,166.91. This trade represents a 48.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SLM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Compass Point increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SLM has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.82.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of SLM stock opened at $29.11 on Wednesday. SLM Co. has a 12 month low of $19.27 and a 12 month high of $31.49. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.44. The firm has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a PE ratio of 10.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.32 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. Equities research analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.62%.

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.