Wells Fargo & Company Increases SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Price Target to $24.00

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) had its target price lifted by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $22.00 to $24.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 13.80% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on SLM. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of SLM from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of SLM in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised shares of SLM from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $14.00 to $23.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. TheStreet raised shares of SLM from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of SLM from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.32.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of SLM opened at $21.09 on Thursday. SLM has a fifty-two week low of $12.26 and a fifty-two week high of $21.94. The company has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $725.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $379.20 million. SLM had a net margin of 20.65% and a return on equity of 36.86%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.33) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that SLM will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 24th that allows the company to buyback $650.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 14.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at SLM

In other news, EVP Donna F. Vieira sold 12,308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total transaction of $249,483.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,564,155. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other SLM news, SVP Jonathan Boyles sold 94,078 shares of SLM stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.72, for a total value of $1,949,296.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,093,000.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Donna F. Vieira sold 12,308 shares of SLM stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.27, for a total transaction of $249,483.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,564,155. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SLM

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 156,130 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,867,000 after purchasing an additional 3,913 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of SLM in the 1st quarter valued at $262,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 180,359 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,311,000 after purchasing an additional 38,282 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 102,214 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,877,000 after purchasing an additional 5,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,541,444 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $101,733,000 after purchasing an additional 45,321 shares during the last quarter. 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.