Arnhold LLC Sells 421,437 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Arnhold LLC trimmed its stake in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 25.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,241,299 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 421,437 shares during the period. SLM makes up about 2.7% of Arnhold LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Arnhold LLC’s holdings in SLM were worth $23,734,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SLM. Goldentree Asset Management LP lifted its holdings in SLM by 9.1% in 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 buying an additional 357,235 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in SLM by 967.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,923,491 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,818,000 after purchasing an additional 2,649,626 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in SLM by 8.9% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,570,065 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $35,004,000 after purchasing an additional 209,632 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in SLM by 26.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,020,173 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $13,895,000 after purchasing an additional 212,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in SLM by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 788,341 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $15,073,000 after purchasing an additional 104,238 shares in the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at SLM

In other SLM news, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.72, for a total transaction of $1,949,296.16. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,093,000.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. TheStreet raised shares of SLM from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup raised shares of SLM from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of SLM from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.32.

SLM Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ SLM traded down $0.44 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $21.19. The stock had a trading volume of 1,094,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,132,232. SLM Co. has a 12 month low of $12.26 and a 12 month high of $22.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a PE ratio of 6.62, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $20.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.36.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $837.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $376.43 million. SLM had a net margin of 25.15% and a return on equity of 45.65%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 24th that permits the company to repurchase $650.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to purchase up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.75%.

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.