Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Cuts Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky reduced its position in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 27.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 344,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 133,309 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in SLM were worth $7,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SLM. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SLM during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in SLM in the third quarter worth $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in SLM by 358.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in SLM during the third quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of SLM in the 2nd quarter worth $60,000. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at SLM

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total value of $122,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 83,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,265,292.50. This represents a 5.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on SLM shares. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $30.00 target price (up previously from $27.00) on shares of SLM in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.00.

SLM Trading Up 2.8 %

NASDAQ SLM opened at $27.23 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.78 billion, a PE ratio of 9.49, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.21. SLM Co. has a 12 month low of $17.14 and a 12 month high of $28.22. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $24.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.30). SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. The company had revenue of $652.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.40 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. 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 yield of 1.91%. SLM’s payout ratio is 18.12%.

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.