SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Position Increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 2.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 669,263 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,470 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in SLM were worth $15,306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SLM. State Street Corp boosted its position in SLM by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $158,342,000 after acquiring an additional 43,927 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in SLM by 2.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 119,342 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in SLM by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,762,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $108,936,000 after buying an additional 331,490 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in SLM by 23.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $92,589,000 after buying an additional 859,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in SLM by 3,800.6% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 2,344,691 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Stock Performance

NASDAQ SLM opened at $26.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The firm has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.39, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50 day moving average of $26.20 and a 200-day moving average of $23.32. SLM Co. has a 1-year low of $18.25 and a 1-year high of $28.91.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) 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 company had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.40 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. This is a boost from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. SLM’s payout ratio is 18.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SLM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $30.00 price target (up previously from $27.00) on shares of SLM in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on SLM in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SLM currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total value of $122,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 83,130 shares in the company, valued at $2,265,292.50. This represents a 5.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.