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

Shares of SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a fifty 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 trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Compass Point upgraded shares of SLM from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, March 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of SLM from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of SLM from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $27.00 price objective on shares of SLM in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.80.

SLM Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.59. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.47.

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

SLM Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 19.4% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 146.1% in the first quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 44,570 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $954,000 after acquiring an additional 26,460 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 63.1% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 261,392 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,596,000 after acquiring an additional 101,120 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 31.3% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 53,673 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,452,000 after acquiring an additional 12,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,649 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 669 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

About SLM

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.