Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM – Free Report) by 28.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 215,130 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 48,052 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp owned about 0.09% of SLM worth $2,665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in SLM by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,551,727 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $427,418,000 after purchasing an additional 177,312 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in SLM by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,541,444 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $101,733,000 after acquiring an additional 45,321 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in SLM by 53.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,530,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $83,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,570,000 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in SLM during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,054,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of SLM by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,858,898 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,858,000 after purchasing an additional 306,977 shares during the period. 92.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
SLM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of SLM from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $17.00 in a report on Monday, April 17th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on SLM in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Compass Point boosted their price target on SLM from $18.00 to $19.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 11th. TheStreet raised shares of SLM from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Thursday, April 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of SLM from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $15.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.00.
SLM Stock Down 3.3 %
SLM (NASDAQ:SLM – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The credit services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $777.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $370.15 million. SLM had a net margin of 14.71% and a return on equity of 23.94%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.
SLM Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.76%.
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 also offers retail deposit accounts, including certificates of deposit, money market deposit accounts, and high-yield savings accounts; and interest-bearing omnibus accounts.
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