SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Share Price Crosses Above Fifty Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Shares of SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $22.45 and traded as high as $25.12. SLM shares last traded at $24.61, with a volume of 2,660,597 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Compass Point raised SLM from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $28.00 target price on SLM in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on SLM from $32.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded SLM from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on SLM from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.80.

SLM Trading Up 3.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.59, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $22.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a PE ratio of 6.82, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.98.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The credit services provider reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.40. SLM had a net margin of 26.42% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The firm had revenue of $559.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $486.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. SLM has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.200 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that SLM Corporation will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.40%.

Institutional Trading of SLM

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in SLM by 33.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 547,724 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $16,087,000 after purchasing an additional 137,285 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of SLM by 63.1% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 261,392 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,596,000 after purchasing an additional 101,120 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP raised its stake in shares of SLM by 616.6% during the 3rd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 109,485 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,031,000 after purchasing an additional 94,207 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of SLM by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 53,673 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,452,000 after purchasing an additional 12,793 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SLM by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 21,350 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $627,000 after buying an additional 1,319 shares during the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SLM Company Profile

SLM Corporation, operating as Sallie Mae Bank, is a leading U.S.-based consumer banking company specializing in education financing and related banking products. The company provides a range of private student loans for undergraduate and graduate studies, Parent PLUS loans, and specialized financing for career and certificate programs. In addition to its core lending services, Sallie Mae offers deposit products including savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and credit cards tailored to students and young adults.

Founded in 1972 as the Student Loan Marketing Association—a government-sponsored enterprise—Sallie Mae was privatized in 2004 and has since focused on expanding its private education loan offerings and digital banking solutions.