SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 424,015 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 36,404 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.19% of SLM worth $8,107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SLM. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of SLM by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,891 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of SLM by 81.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of SLM by 10.4% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 9,033 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of SLM by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 48,610 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $929,000 after purchasing an additional 995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of SLM by 1.9% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 62,111 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $846,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLM has been the subject of several research reports. TheStreet raised shares of SLM from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup raised shares of SLM from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of SLM from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of SLM in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.32.

Insider Transactions at SLM

In other news, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.72, for a total value of $1,949,296.16. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,093,000.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

SLM Stock Performance

SLM stock opened at $22.01 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.23. SLM Co. has a 1-year low of $12.26 and a 1-year high of $22.37. The stock has a market cap of $4.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.17.

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

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.75%.

SLM announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 24th that allows the company to buyback $650.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 14.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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 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.