SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) Shares Sold by Corebridge Financial Inc.

Corebridge Financial Inc. decreased its stake in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 240,247 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 16,899 shares during the quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc.’s holdings in SLM were worth $6,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in SLM by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 251,949 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,949,000 after buying an additional 74,109 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of SLM by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 12,954 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of SLM in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,611,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in SLM by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,175,645 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $142,744,000 after purchasing an additional 338,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in SLM by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 21,700 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 9,974 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on SLM from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on SLM from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Compass Point boosted their price objective on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.45.

SLM Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of SLM opened at $28.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37. The firm has a market cap of $6.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $29.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.40. SLM Co. has a 12-month low of $19.39 and a 12-month high of $32.65.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 20.73%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total transaction of $1,142,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 43,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,233,166.91. This represents a 48.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.