New York State Common Retirement Fund Purchases 104,238 Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 15.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 788,341 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 104,238 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.35% of SLM worth $15,073,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in SLM by 81.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in SLM during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. CWM LLC grew its position in SLM by 51.9% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,632 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 1,925 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in SLM by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 9,033 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the period. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in SLM in the third quarter valued at approximately $144,000. 98.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SLM Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of SLM opened at $21.63 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $20.97 and its 200 day moving average is $18.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a PE ratio of 6.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.16. SLM Co. has a fifty-two week low of $12.26 and a fifty-two week high of $22.37.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.18. SLM had a net margin of 25.15% and a return on equity of 45.65%. The business had revenue of $837.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $376.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $650.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to repurchase up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. SLM’s payout ratio is presently 13.75%.

Insider Activity at SLM

In related news, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of SLM stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.72, for a total transaction of $1,949,296.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,093,000.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SLM shares. Wedbush raised 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of SLM in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Citigroup upgraded SLM from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $14.00 to $23.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded SLM from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.32.

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.