Boston Partners Raises Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Boston Partners raised its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,246,797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 456,415 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned about 0.06% of SLM worth $338,889,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in SLM by 86.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 971 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in SLM in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in SLM by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,849 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in SLM in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of SLM during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $114,000. 98.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SLM shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on SLM from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Compass Point lifted their price target on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.45.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total value of $1,142,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 43,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,166.91. This represents a 48.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

SLM Stock Performance

SLM stock opened at $29.26 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37. SLM Co. has a 12 month low of $19.39 and a 12 month high of $32.65. The stock has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.23.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. SLM’s dividend 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.