Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 1,129 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans decreased its stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 49,960 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,129 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in SLM were worth $1,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SLM. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of SLM by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $158,342,000 after acquiring an additional 43,927 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of SLM by 7.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 331,490 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,758,057 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,207,000 after acquiring an additional 15,252 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in SLM during the 4th quarter valued at $20,603,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of SLM by 2.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 669,263 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $15,306,000 after buying an additional 18,470 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of SLM stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

SLM Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ SLM opened at $28.90 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $6.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.91, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.23. SLM Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.39 and a fifty-two week high of $32.65. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $29.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.32.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is currently 19.62%.

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.