Securian Asset Management Inc. Has $443,000 Stock Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,051 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 858 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in SLM were worth $443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLM. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of SLM by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $158,342,000 after purchasing an additional 43,927 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in SLM by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,762,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $108,936,000 after buying an additional 331,490 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in SLM by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,758,057 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,207,000 after buying an additional 15,252 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SLM in the 4th quarter valued at $20,603,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of SLM by 2.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 669,263 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $15,306,000 after acquiring an additional 18,470 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Compass Point raised their price target on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.45.

SLM Price Performance

NASDAQ:SLM opened at $29.26 on Tuesday. SLM Co. has a 1 year low of $19.39 and a 1 year high of $32.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $29.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.93. The stock has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.04, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.23. 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 (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 expect that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. SLM’s payout ratio is 19.62%.

Insider Activity at SLM

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 43,163 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,166.91. The trade was a 48.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.