Amalgamated Bank Sells 2,615 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Amalgamated Bank trimmed its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 101,087 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,615 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in SLM were worth $2,788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLM. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $158,342,000 after buying an additional 43,927 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in SLM during the third quarter valued at about $623,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of SLM in the third quarter valued at about $3,250,000. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP lifted its position in shares of SLM by 62.9% during the 3rd quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 177,840 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,067,000 after purchasing an additional 68,642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in SLM in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $268,000. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at SLM

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 83,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,265,292.50. This represents a 5.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

SLM Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of SLM stock opened at $30.19 on Friday. SLM Co. has a 12-month low of $19.39 and a 12-month high of $32.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.30. 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 (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. Research analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SLM. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.91.

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.