Xponance Inc. Sells 989 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Xponance Inc. reduced its holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,013 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 989 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in SLM were worth $689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in SLM by 967.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,923,491 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,818,000 after purchasing an additional 2,649,626 shares in the last quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP lifted its position in shares of SLM by 9.1% in the third quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP now owns 4,282,732 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $58,331,000 after buying an additional 357,235 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLM in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,131,000. Jump Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of SLM by 1,100.2% in the third quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 262,897 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,581,000 after buying an additional 240,993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of SLM by 26.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,020,173 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $13,895,000 after buying an additional 212,485 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on SLM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on SLM from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on SLM in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Citigroup upgraded SLM from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on SLM from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TheStreet upgraded SLM from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.32.

SLM Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of SLM stock opened at $21.90 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.16. SLM Co. has a twelve month low of $12.26 and a twelve month high of $22.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.23.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $837.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $376.43 million. SLM had a return on equity of 45.65% and a net margin of 25.15%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is presently 13.75%.

SLM declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 24th that allows the company to repurchase $650.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SLM news, EVP Donna F. Vieira sold 12,308 shares of SLM stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total transaction of $249,483.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,564,155. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.72, for a total value of $1,949,296.16. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,093,000.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Donna F. Vieira sold 12,308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total value of $249,483.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,564,155. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.91% 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.