SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of SLM Co. (NASDAQ:SLMGet Free Report) saw strong trading volume on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $27.00 to $29.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. 1,507,940 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 35% from the previous session’s volume of 2,321,615 shares.The stock last traded at $28.07 and had previously closed at $27.63.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of SLM in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SLM presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.45.

View Our Latest Analysis on SLM

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.25, for a total transaction of $122,625.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 83,130 shares in the company, valued at $2,265,292.50. This represents 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. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLM

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

SLM Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.83, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $26.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.49.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLMGet Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The credit services provider reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $652.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.40 million. SLM had a return on equity of 35.92% and a net margin of 22.18%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that SLM Co. will post 2.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This is a positive change from SLM’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.12%.

SLM Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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