Wedbush Cuts SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Price Target to $26.00

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) had its target price decreased by stock analysts at Wedbush from $29.00 to $26.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Wedbush’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 20.65% from the stock’s current price.

SLM has been the topic of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on SLM from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on SLM from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SLM currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.73.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of SLM traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $21.55. The stock had a trading volume of 333,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,812,645. SLM has a 12 month low of $12.26 and a 12 month high of $23.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.74, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a fifty day moving average of $21.58 and a 200 day moving average of $21.25.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.32. SLM had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 41.84%. The company had revenue of $783.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. Equities analysts predict that SLM will post 2.83 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total value of $102,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 101,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,294,811.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SLM

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Invst LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 5.8% during the second quarter. Invst LLC now owns 40,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $828,000 after buying an additional 2,176 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in SLM in the second quarter valued at about $1,338,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in SLM by 107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,366,642 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $49,202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224,015 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 253.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,290,997 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,840,000 after acquiring an additional 926,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. bought a new stake in shares of SLM in the second quarter worth $5,046,000. 98.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About SLM

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.