Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 227,633 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 31.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 503,911 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 227,633 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in SLM were worth $11,524,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in SLM during the third quarter worth about $31,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of SLM during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of SLM by 358.7% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of SLM in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in SLM during the second quarter worth approximately $60,000. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at SLM

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total value of $122,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 83,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,265,292.50. This represents a 5.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SLM shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $30.00 target price (up from $27.00) on shares of SLM in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays cut their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SLM currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.27.

SLM Stock Performance

NASDAQ SLM opened at $27.87 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $25.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.89. The stock has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a PE ratio of 9.71, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.29. SLM Co. has a fifty-two week low of $18.04 and a fifty-two week high of $28.24.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 2.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. This is an increase from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.