SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Shares Sold by Heritage Investors Management Corp

Heritage Investors Management Corp lessened its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 165,480 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 6,500 shares during the quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp’s holdings in SLM were worth $4,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SLM. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in SLM in the third quarter valued at about $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 worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in SLM in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in SLM during the fourth quarter worth $86,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in SLM by 110.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 2,310 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at SLM

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total transaction of $1,142,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

SLM Stock Up 0.3 %

SLM stock opened at $30.10 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $28.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.36, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.22. SLM Co. has a one year low of $19.39 and a one year high of $32.65.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, SLM has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.91.

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.