Act Two Investors LLC Sells 665,394 Shares of SLM Corporation $SLM

Act Two Investors LLC trimmed its stake in SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) by 92.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 51,378 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 665,394 shares during the period. Act Two Investors LLC’s holdings in SLM were worth $1,163,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of SLM by 30.5% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 59,790 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,353,000 after acquiring an additional 13,988 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of SLM by 31.9% during the third quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 11,133 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 2,695 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. raised its stake in shares of SLM by 15.5% during the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 10,213 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 1,367 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP purchased a new stake in shares of SLM in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 109.7% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 33,551 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $759,000 after purchasing an additional 17,549 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SLM Stock Up 3.7%

NASDAQ SLM traded up $0.61 during trading on Friday, reaching $17.20. 2,147,548 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,520,844. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.23 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.11. SLM Corporation has a 12-month low of $16.54 and a 12-month high of $31.06.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The credit services provider reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.36). SLM had a return on equity of 26.34% and a net margin of 20.43%. The business had revenue of $375.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $453.34 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. SLM’s revenue for the quarter was down 31.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that SLM Corporation will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 4th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. SLM’s payout ratio is 18.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SLM. Wall Street Zen cut SLM from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Barclays reduced their price objective on SLM from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered SLM from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.44.

SLM Company Profile

SLM Corporation, commonly known as Sallie Mae, is a U.S.-based education finance company. Through Sallie Mae Bank, it primarily provides private student loans to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as loans for career training and other education-related expenses. The company also offers consumer banking products, including savings accounts and certificates of deposit. Its services include supporting borrowers through loan application, repayment and customer service processes. Founded in 1972 as the Student Loan Marketing Association, the organization was later privatized and became known as Sallie Mae.