VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Acquires Shares of 161,300 SLM Corporation $SLM

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 161,300 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,184,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SLM. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of SLM by 2,413.3% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,691,210 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $147,630,000 after purchasing an additional 5,464,767 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in SLM in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $326,000. Pale Fire Capital SE bought a new position in SLM in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $449,000. Nykredit A S acquired a new position in SLM during the 2nd quarter worth $77,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in SLM during the 2nd quarter worth $916,000. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SLM shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $28.00 target price on SLM in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research lowered SLM from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded SLM from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on SLM from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on SLM from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.80.

SLM Price Performance

Shares of SLM stock opened at $26.09 on Thursday. SLM Corporation has a 52-week low of $17.77 and a 52-week high of $31.06. The stock has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a PE ratio of 7.29, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $26.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.33.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The credit services provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $401.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $409.22 million. SLM had a net margin of 26.09% and a return on equity of 33.81%. The business’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. SLM has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.200 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that SLM Corporation will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.53%.

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.