Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 836,298 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership cut its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 41.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,165,022 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 836,298 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.55% of SLM worth $32,131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Pertento Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of SLM in the 4th quarter valued at $48,451,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 32,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $883,000 after acquiring an additional 4,661 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLM during the fourth quarter worth about $536,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of SLM during the 4th quarter valued at about $68,603,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of SLM by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 754,457 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,808,000 after purchasing an additional 85,194 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total value of $1,142,800.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SLM. Compass Point lifted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays increased their target price on SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.45.

SLM Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of SLM stock opened at $30.14 on Thursday. SLM Co. has a 12-month low of $19.39 and a 12-month high of $32.65. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $29.66 and its 200-day moving average is $26.64. The stock has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 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%. Equities research analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were 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 was Wednesday, March 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.62%.

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.