Shikiar Asset Management Inc. Acquires 34,550 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Shikiar Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 211,350 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,550 shares during the quarter. SLM accounts for 1.2% of Shikiar Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of SLM worth $4,394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in SLM in the fourth quarter worth $42,108,000. Boston Partners lifted its position in SLM by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 11,786,932 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $225,574,000 after purchasing an additional 1,969,885 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in SLM by 186.3% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,517,251 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $54,851,000 after purchasing an additional 1,638,003 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in SLM by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,136,784 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $633,575,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,557 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in SLM by 6,779.4% in the first quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 894,116 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $19,483,000 after purchasing an additional 881,119 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on SLM shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Wedbush increased their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total transaction of $102,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 101,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,294,811.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

SLM Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SLM traded down $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $20.67. 1,001,711 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,904,538. SLM Co. has a 52 week low of $12.26 and a 52 week high of $23.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. The company has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $21.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.00.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.32. SLM had a return on equity of 41.84% and a net margin of 24.67%. The business had revenue of $783.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $368.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 2.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.