Wells Fargo & Company Boosts SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Price Target to $33.00

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) had its price objective raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $32.00 to $33.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 13.75% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also commented on SLM. Barclays dropped their price objective on SLM from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Compass Point boosted their target price on shares of SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on SLM from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SLM currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.82.

SLM Stock Performance

Shares of SLM stock opened at $29.01 on Friday. SLM has a 1 year low of $18.84 and a 1 year high of $31.49. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.27 and a 200 day moving average of $23.91. 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 firm has a market capitalization 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.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that SLM will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of SLM stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was 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 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SLM

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in SLM by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,923,576 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $158,342,000 after acquiring an additional 43,927 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of SLM by 7.5% in 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 last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 3,800.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,406,384 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $55,034,000 after buying an additional 2,344,691 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in SLM by 107.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,366,642 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $49,202,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,015 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in SLM by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,758,057 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,207,000 after acquiring an additional 15,252 shares during the period. 98.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.