SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Shares Cross Above 50-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) shares passed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of $21.78 and traded as high as $22.44. SLM shares last traded at $21.88, with a volume of 1,430,890 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SLM. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of SLM from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Zacks Research raised shares of SLM from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $28.00 price target on shares of SLM in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Compass Point raised shares of SLM from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, March 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.80.

SLM Price Performance

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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.01.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $486.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. SLM has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.200 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that SLM Corporation will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SLM Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. SLM’s payout ratio is currently 14.40%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLM

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SLM. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of SLM by 6.6% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 21,350 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $627,000 after acquiring an additional 1,319 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of SLM in the first quarter valued at about $263,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of SLM by 33.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 547,724 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $16,087,000 after acquiring an additional 137,285 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of SLM by 118.2% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,995 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 2,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of SLM by 6.1% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 36,889 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,210,000 after acquiring an additional 2,109 shares in the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.