Quadrant Capital Group LLC Boosts Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 39.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,976 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC’s holdings in SLM were worth $57,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Partners increased its position in SLM by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 11,786,932 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $225,574,000 after acquiring an additional 1,969,885 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in SLM by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,473,007 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $123,767,000 after purchasing an additional 170,764 shares during the period. Goldentree Asset Management LP grew its holdings in SLM by 9.1% during the third quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP now owns 4,282,732 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $58,331,000 after purchasing an additional 357,235 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in SLM by 8.9% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,570,065 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $35,004,000 after purchasing an additional 209,632 shares during the period. Finally, Polaris Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in SLM by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Polaris Capital Management LLC now owns 2,445,400 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $46,756,000 after purchasing an additional 622,400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of SLM stock opened at $20.98 on Monday. SLM Co. has a 12 month low of $12.26 and a 12 month high of $22.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $21.27 and a 200 day moving average of $19.39. The firm has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a PE ratio of 6.56, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.17.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.18. SLM had a return on equity of 45.65% and a net margin of 25.15%. The company had revenue of $837.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $376.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 2.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SLM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on SLM from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on SLM from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on SLM from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other news, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.72, for a total value of $1,949,296.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,093,000.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.