Captrust Financial Advisors Acquires Shares of 11,978 SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 11,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $274,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SLM. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in SLM during the third quarter worth $623,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its position in shares of SLM by 50.7% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 290,636 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,042,000 after acquiring an additional 97,832 shares during the last quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 62.9% in the third quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 177,840 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,067,000 after purchasing an additional 68,642 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in SLM during the third quarter worth about $268,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in SLM by 62.8% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 112,871 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,347,000 after purchasing an additional 43,542 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SLM shares. Barclays cut their price target on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (up previously from $27.00) on shares of SLM in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.80.

SLM Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of SLM stock opened at $27.18 on Friday. SLM Co. has a fifty-two week low of $17.94 and a fifty-two week high of $28.22. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $24.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 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 (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted 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 company had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.40 million. SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 2.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This is a boost from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.12%.

Insider Transactions at SLM

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of SLM stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total transaction of $122,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 83,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,265,292.50. The trade was a 5.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate 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.