True Wealth Design LLC Purchases Shares of 1,347 SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,347 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in SLM in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of SLM by 358.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,094 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of SLM in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in SLM during the second quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in SLM by 110.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 2,310 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on SLM. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of SLM in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.45.

SLM Stock Performance

NASDAQ SLM opened at $27.38 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.54, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. SLM Co. has a 1-year low of $14.64 and a 1-year high of $28.22. The company has a 50 day moving average of $23.46 and a 200-day moving average of $22.01.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.40 million. SLM had a net margin of 22.18% and a return on equity of 35.92%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. This is a positive change from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.33%.

SLM 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.