SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Shares Sold by Eagle Asset Management Inc.

Eagle Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 17.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 578,177 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 122,710 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. owned 0.27% of SLM worth $13,419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SLM. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in SLM by 3,800.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,406,384 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $55,034,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344,691 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,224,015 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in SLM by 253.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,290,997 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,840,000 after acquiring an additional 926,120 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position 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 worth $92,589,000 after acquiring an additional 859,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its holdings in SLM by 5.7% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,461,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $271,626,000 after acquiring an additional 674,424 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SLM Stock Up 9.1 %

SLM opened at $27.13 on Friday. SLM Co. has a 12 month low of $14.03 and a 12 month high of $27.18. The business has a 50-day moving average of $22.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.80. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.16.

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

SLM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. This is a boost from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is 15.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.