Amundi Increases Stock Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Amundi increased its holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 103.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 135,014 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,632 shares during the period. Amundi’s holdings in SLM were worth $3,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in SLM by 4.8% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,594 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in SLM during the third quarter valued at about $623,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in SLM during the third quarter valued at about $224,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in SLM by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,758,057 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,207,000 after acquiring an additional 15,252 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in SLM by 150.2% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 56,766 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,298,000 after acquiring an additional 34,079 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of SLM opened at $29.26 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.23. SLM Co. has a one year low of $19.39 and a one year high of $32.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $29.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.88.

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

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is currently 19.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SLM shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on SLM from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total transaction of $1,142,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 43,163 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,166.91. This represents a 48.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.