Trexquant Investment LP Has $2.94 Million Stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Trexquant Investment LP decreased its position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 153,760 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 20,527 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in SLM were worth $2,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Partners lifted its position in SLM by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 11,786,932 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $225,574,000 after acquiring an additional 1,969,885 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of SLM by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,473,007 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $123,767,000 after purchasing an additional 170,764 shares during the period. Goldentree Asset Management LP raised its stake in shares of SLM by 9.1% during the third quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP now owns 4,282,732 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $58,331,000 after acquiring an additional 357,235 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in SLM by 967.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,923,491 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,818,000 after purchasing an additional 2,649,626 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in SLM by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,570,065 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $35,004,000 after buying an additional 209,632 shares in the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other SLM news, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.72, for a total transaction of $1,949,296.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,093,000.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on 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 increased their price target on SLM from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on SLM from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.32.

SLM Stock Up 1.6 %

SLM traded up $0.33 during trading on Friday, hitting $20.98. 1,146,596 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,410,333. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.56, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.17. SLM Co. has a 12-month low of $12.26 and a 12-month high of $22.74.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.18. SLM had a net margin of 25.15% and a return on equity of 45.65%. The business had revenue of $837.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $376.43 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. Analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 6th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.75%.

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.