Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Has $32.13 Million Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership trimmed its position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 41.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,165,022 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 836,298 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in SLM were worth $32,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pertento Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of SLM in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,451,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in SLM by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 32,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $883,000 after purchasing an additional 4,661 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of SLM during the 4th quarter worth approximately $536,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of SLM during the fourth quarter worth approximately $68,603,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 754,457 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,808,000 after buying an additional 85,194 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ SLM opened at $30.14 on Thursday. SLM Co. has a twelve month low of $19.39 and a twelve month high of $32.65. The business’s fifty day moving average is $29.66 and its 200 day moving average is $26.64. 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 company has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of SLM stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on SLM shares. Compass Point raised their price objective on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, SLM has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.45.

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.