Act Two Investors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Act Two Investors LLC increased its stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 36.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 79,160 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,146 shares during the quarter. SLM makes up approximately 0.4% of Act Two Investors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Act Two Investors LLC’s holdings in SLM were worth $2,183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 86.4% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 971 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in SLM by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,849 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in SLM in the 4th quarter worth approximately $86,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in SLM in the 4th quarter valued at $114,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 489.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,476 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 3,717 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total value of $1,142,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 43,163 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on SLM shares. Compass Point upped their target price on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.18.

SLM Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SLM opened at $25.78 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37. SLM Co. has a twelve month low of $19.39 and a twelve month high of $32.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.73, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. SLM’s payout ratio is currently 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.