Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Stock Price

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) had its price target increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $32.00 to $33.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on SLM. Compass Point upped their price target on shares of SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays decreased their price target on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.82.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of SLM stock opened at $29.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $27.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.89. SLM has a one year low of $18.84 and a one year high of $31.49.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted 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 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. Equities analysts expect that SLM will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. SLM’s payout ratio is currently 18.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 83,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,265,292.50. The trade was a 5.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of SLM

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $158,342,000 after purchasing an additional 43,927 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in SLM in the third quarter worth about $623,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of SLM during the third quarter valued at about $3,250,000. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 62.9% in the 3rd quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 177,840 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,067,000 after buying an additional 68,642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of SLM in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $268,000. Institutional investors own 98.94% 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.