Quantbot Technologies LP Has $598,000 Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 85.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,700 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,974 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in SLM were worth $598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 86.4% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 971 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SLM during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in SLM by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,849 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in SLM in the fourth quarter valued at about $86,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in SLM during the fourth quarter worth about $114,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of SLM stock opened at $29.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.23. SLM Co. has a 52 week low of $19.39 and a 52 week high of $32.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $29.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.34.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. On average, analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The company 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 1.75%. SLM’s payout ratio is presently 19.62%.

Insider Activity at SLM

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 43,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,233,166.91. This trade represents 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 accessible through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

SLM Company 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.