SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Price Target Raised to $38.00 at Barclays

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) had its price target boosted by research analysts at Barclays from $34.00 to $38.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s target price points to a potential upside of 20.90% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on SLM. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on SLM from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of SLM from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point raised their price target on shares of SLM from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on SLM from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.91.

SLM Trading Up 4.7 %

SLM opened at $31.43 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $28.27 and a 200 day moving average of $24.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.37. SLM has a 12 month low of $19.39 and a 12 month high of $31.49. The firm has a market cap of $6.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.22.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.06). SLM had a net margin of 20.73% and a return on equity of 31.66%. As a group, research analysts forecast that SLM will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.57, for a total transaction of $1,142,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 43,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,233,166.91. This represents a 48.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of SLM by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,246,797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $338,889,000 after purchasing an additional 456,415 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of SLM by 39.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,529,496 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $207,664,000 after buying an additional 2,111,699 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 43,927 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in shares of SLM during the 4th quarter worth approximately $144,101,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of SLM by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,175,645 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $142,744,000 after buying an additional 338,128 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

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.