SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Shares Sold by Janus Henderson Group PLC

Janus Henderson Group PLC lowered its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 3.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 133,653 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,454 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in SLM were worth $3,058,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SLM. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in SLM by 2.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,687,920 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $118,248,000 after acquiring an additional 119,342 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in SLM by 23.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $92,589,000 after purchasing an additional 859,625 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in SLM by 3,800.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,406,384 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $55,034,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344,691 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in SLM by 107.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,366,642 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $49,202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in SLM by 0.9% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 15,252 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on SLM in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (up from $27.00) on shares of SLM in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of SLM stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total transaction of $122,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 83,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,265,292.50. The trade was a 5.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

SLM Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of SLM stock opened at $26.48 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $24.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.23, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.21. SLM Co. has a 1-year low of $16.84 and a 1-year high of $28.22.

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

SLM Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. This is a boost from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is presently 18.12%.

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.