Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Stock

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) had its price objective raised by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $32.00 to $33.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 11.20% from the stock’s previous close.

SLM has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on SLM from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays dropped their target price on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, SLM has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.18.

SLM Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of SLM stock traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $29.68. The stock had a trading volume of 1,630,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,567,062. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. SLM has a 1 year low of $18.84 and a 1 year high of $31.49.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that SLM will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at SLM

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total transaction of $122,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 83,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,265,292.50. The trade was a 5.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in SLM by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,849 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of SLM by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,594 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of SLM by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,825 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $933,000 after buying an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of SLM by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,077 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of SLM by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 18,708 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $428,000 after buying an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

SLM Company 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.