Sapient Capital LLC Sells 54,156 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Sapient Capital LLC decreased its position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 84.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 54,156 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in SLM were worth $229,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in SLM by 117.5% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 73,140 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,594,000 after acquiring an additional 39,519 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its position in SLM by 19.6% during the first quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 594,514 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $12,954,000 after acquiring an additional 97,442 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of SLM by 59.0% in the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 593,201 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $12,926,000 after acquiring an additional 220,154 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in SLM by 77.8% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 64,514 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,406,000 after purchasing an additional 28,236 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 50.7% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 290,636 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,042,000 after acquiring an additional 97,832 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SLM Stock Down 0.8 %

SLM stock opened at $23.09 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $21.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.40. The company has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. SLM Co. has a 52 week low of $12.26 and a 52 week high of $23.95.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.32. SLM had a return on equity of 41.84% and a net margin of 24.67%. The firm had revenue of $783.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $368.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is currently 13.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total value of $102,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 101,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,294,811.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.