Trexquant Investment LP Has $2.94 Million Stock Holdings in SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM)

Trexquant Investment LP decreased its holdings in shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLM) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 153,760 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 20,527 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned 0.07% of SLM worth $2,940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SLM. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 596 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SLM during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of SLM by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,330 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of SLM by 39.5% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of SLM during the fourth quarter valued at $76,000. 98.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on SLM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of SLM from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of SLM from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.32.

SLM Trading Up 1.6 %

SLM stock traded up $0.33 during trading on Friday, reaching $20.98. 1,146,596 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,410,333. The company has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.56, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.33. SLM Co. has a 52-week low of $12.26 and a 52-week high of $22.74.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.18. SLM had a net margin of 25.15% and a return on equity of 45.65%. The company had revenue of $837.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $376.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that SLM Co. will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.75%.

Insider Activity at SLM

In other news, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.72, for a total value of $1,949,296.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,093,000.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

SLM 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.