Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Purchases Shares of 3,119 SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,119 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $86,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC increased its stake in SLM by 187.6% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $981,000 after acquiring an additional 27,982 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 5.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 18,708 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in SLM by 358.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094 shares in the last quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI raised its stake in SLM by 1.7% in the third quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI now owns 307,409 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,030,000 after purchasing an additional 5,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in SLM by 16.9% during the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,291,153 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $29,529,000 after purchasing an additional 186,522 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at SLM

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total transaction of $122,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 83,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,265,292.50. The trade was a 5.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

SLM Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ SLM opened at $30.02 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $28.07 and its 200 day moving average is $24.51. SLM Co. has a 52 week low of $19.39 and a 52 week high of $31.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37. The company has a market cap of $6.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.22.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is 19.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SLM. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays decreased their price objective on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Compass Point boosted their target price on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.82.

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.