Polaris Capital Management LLC Sells 68,600 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Polaris Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,590,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 68,600 shares during the period. SLM comprises approximately 2.1% of Polaris Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Polaris Capital Management LLC owned 0.75% of SLM worth $43,852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,077 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in SLM by 187.6% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $981,000 after buying an additional 27,982 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of SLM by 5.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 18,708 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of SLM by 358.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI increased its stake in SLM by 1.7% in the third quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI now owns 307,409 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,030,000 after acquiring an additional 5,205 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, SLM presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.82.

SLM Stock Down 2.9 %

SLM stock opened at $29.09 on Tuesday. SLM Co. has a 1-year low of $19.27 and a 1-year high of $31.49. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $27.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 EPS 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%. Equities analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is currently 19.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total transaction of $122,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 83,130 shares in the company, valued at $2,265,292.50. The trade was a 5.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.