Morgan Stanley Boosts SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Price Target to $32.00

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) had its price target hoisted by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $26.00 to $32.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 15.15% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on SLM. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America assumed coverage on SLM in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.27.

SLM Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of SLM stock opened at $27.79 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $24.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.58. 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 12-month low of $18.04 and a 12-month high of $28.24. The company has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.68, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.21.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.30). The firm had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.40 million. SLM had a net margin of 22.18% and a return on equity of 35.92%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that SLM will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of SLM

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 415,607 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,596,000 after acquiring an additional 108,463 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in SLM in the third quarter worth $1,797,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in SLM in the third quarter worth $655,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $108,936,000 after buying an additional 331,490 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp bought a new stake in shares of SLM during the 3rd quarter valued at $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.