Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 9,220 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners grew its holdings in SLM by 5.7% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,461,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $271,626,000 after purchasing an additional 674,424 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of SLM by 2.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,687,920 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $118,248,000 after purchasing an additional 119,342 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of SLM by 23.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $92,589,000 after purchasing an additional 859,625 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 3,800.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,406,384 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $55,034,000 after buying an additional 2,344,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,366,642 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $49,202,000 after buying an additional 1,224,015 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at SLM

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total value of $102,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 101,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,294,811.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, SLM has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.45.

SLM Stock Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ:SLM opened at $21.90 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.27. SLM Co. has a one year low of $12.26 and a one year high of $23.95. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.50. The company has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a PE ratio of 7.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.15.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.40 million. SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that SLM Co. will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This is a positive change from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is currently 15.33%.

About SLM

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.