Vest Financial LLC Sells 31,570 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Vest Financial LLC cut its position in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,259,583 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 31,570 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC owned approximately 0.59% of SLM worth $34,739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of SLM during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in SLM during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of SLM by 358.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,094 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of SLM in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 110.3% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 2,310 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total transaction of $1,142,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 43,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,233,166.91. This trade represents a 48.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Compass Point increased their target price on shares of SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.82.

SLM Stock Performance

SLM stock opened at $29.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $6.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $27.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.34. SLM Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.04 and a fifty-two week high of $31.49.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is 19.62%.

SLM Company 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.