SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Holdings Raised by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,489 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,596 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in SLM were worth $1,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SLM. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,594 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in SLM during the 3rd quarter worth $623,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in SLM during the 3rd quarter worth $224,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in SLM by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,758,057 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,207,000 after buying an additional 15,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in SLM by 150.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 56,766 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,298,000 after buying an additional 34,079 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on SLM. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on SLM from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.45.

Insider Activity at SLM

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total transaction of $1,142,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,233,166.91. The trade was a 48.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

SLM Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ SLM opened at $29.13 on Wednesday. SLM Co. has a 12 month low of $19.39 and a 12 month high of $32.65. The company has a market cap of $6.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.98.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a net margin of 20.73% and a return on equity of 31.66%. Sell-side analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is 19.62%.

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.