National Bank of Canada FI Has $6.42 Million Stock Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 248.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 232,847 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 166,041 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.11% of SLM worth $6,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SLM. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in SLM by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,246,797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $338,889,000 after purchasing an additional 456,415 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in SLM by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $158,342,000 after buying an additional 43,927 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 338,128 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in SLM during the fourth quarter worth $140,442,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in SLM by 7.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,762,328 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $108,936,000 after acquiring an additional 331,490 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SLM. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of SLM from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point lifted their price objective on SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.45.

SLM Trading Down 6.7 %

Shares of SLM opened at $25.54 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.37 billion, a PE ratio of 9.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.05. SLM Co. has a 12-month low of $19.39 and a 12-month high of $32.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a net margin of 20.73% and a return on equity of 31.66%. As a group, research analysts predict that SLM Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. SLM’s payout ratio is presently 19.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total transaction of $1,142,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,166.91. The trade was a 48.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.