Headlands Technologies LLC Purchases 739 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Headlands Technologies LLC grew its position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 46.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,330 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 739 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in SLM were worth $45,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Goldentree Asset Management LP raised its position in SLM by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP now owns 4,282,732 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $58,331,000 after purchasing an additional 357,235 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in SLM by 967.5% in the 3rd 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. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 209,632 shares during the last quarter. Arnhold LLC raised its position in SLM by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Arnhold LLC now owns 1,662,736 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $22,646,000 after purchasing an additional 89,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in SLM by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,020,173 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $13,895,000 after purchasing an additional 212,485 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of SLM stock opened at $21.25 on Thursday. SLM Co. has a 12-month low of $12.26 and a 12-month high of $22.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $20.99 and a 200-day moving average of $18.41.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $837.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $376.43 million. SLM had a net margin of 25.15% and a return on equity of 45.65%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 24th that allows the company to buyback $650.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th will be given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.75%.

Insider Activity at SLM

In related news, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.72, for a total value 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 approximately $1,093,000.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of SLM in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of SLM from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of SLM from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of SLM from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.32.

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.