American Century Companies Inc. Raises Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 23.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 859,625 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in SLM were worth $92,589,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SLM. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in SLM by 1,373.3% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in SLM by 37.0% in the 1st quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 1,828 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in SLM in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in SLM by 39.5% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in SLM by 78.6% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,962 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304 shares in the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on SLM from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SLM presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total transaction of $102,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 101,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,294,811.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of SLM stock opened at $21.23 on Friday. SLM Co. has a twelve month low of $12.26 and a twelve month high of $23.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.63, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $21.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.21.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.32. SLM had a return on equity of 41.84% and a net margin of 24.67%. The firm had revenue of $783.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.75%.

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.