Farther Finance Advisors LLC Decreases Position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 24.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,273 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,999 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in SLM were worth $421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in SLM by 86.4% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 971 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in SLM during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in SLM by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,849 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in SLM during the fourth quarter worth approximately $86,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in SLM during the fourth quarter worth approximately $114,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Price Performance

SLM stock opened at $29.26 on Monday. SLM Co. has a 12 month low of $19.39 and a 12 month high of $32.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a PE ratio of 11.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.23.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. Equities analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on SLM from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 43,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,233,166.91. This represents a 48.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.