82,611 SLM Corporation $SLM Shares Bought by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of SLM Corporation (NASDAQ:SLM) by 44.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 270,049 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 82,611 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in SLM were worth $6,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wavvest Wealth LLC bought a new position in SLM in the third quarter worth $779,000. Canoe Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 156.4% during the third quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 87,882 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,987,000 after buying an additional 53,612 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 22.6% during the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 12,194 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 2,250 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of SLM by 16.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,461 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 1,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of SLM by 52.1% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,819 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650 shares in the last quarter. 98.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key SLM News

Here are the key news stories impacting SLM this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Private education loan originations rose 15% year over year to a record $3.4 billion, while graduate-loan originations increased 119%. SLM also repurchased 5.1 million shares for $132.2 million, supporting per-share value over the longer term. Sallie Mae Reports Third-Quarter Results
• Positive Sentiment: Sixth Street committed to purchase approximately $1.5 billion of student loans annually, potentially expanding SLM’s funding and loan-origination capacity. SLM: Three Key Takeaways
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley, RBC, and TD Cowen lowered their price targets to $26, $26, and $27, respectively, but retained positive ratings ranging from overweight to buy. The revisions indicate reduced near-term expectations while implying substantial potential upside from recent levels.
• Negative Sentiment: SLM reported a $35.9 million net loss attributable to common stock, or $0.19 per share, compared with $0.63 of earnings a year earlier. Revenue fell 31.3% year over year to approximately $375.5 million, below the $453.3 million consensus estimate. SLM Quarterly Earnings Results
• Negative Sentiment: Management cut 2026 diluted EPS guidance to $1.95–$2.05 from $3.10–$3.20 and raised expected full-year net charge-offs to $400–$420 million. Third-quarter charge-offs reached about $90 million, reflecting increased defaults tied partly to third-party debt-resolution practices.
• Negative Sentiment: Credit-loss provisions totaled $213.7 million and non-interest expenses rose to roughly $220.7 million as SLM spent more to capture seasonal loan demand. These higher costs overwhelmed the strong origination growth and are the primary reasons investors have sold the stock. Sallie Mae Cuts Full-Year View

SLM Price Performance

Shares of SLM stock opened at $19.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $24.46 and its 200 day moving average is $23.99. SLM Corporation has a one year low of $17.77 and a one year high of $31.06.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The credit services provider reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.36). SLM had a net margin of 20.43% and a return on equity of 25.75%. The firm had revenue of $375.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $453.34 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. SLM’s revenue for the quarter was down 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that SLM Corporation will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current year.

SLM Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 4th. SLM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SLM. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of SLM from $32.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of SLM in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered SLM from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on SLM from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on SLM from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SLM presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.44.

SLM Profile

SLM Corp., commonly known as Sallie Mae, is a financial services company focused on helping students and families finance higher education. Its primary business is the origination and servicing of private education loans, which can help cover tuition, fees, books, housing and other eligible education-related expenses not fully covered by federal student aid.

The company offers private student loans for undergraduate and graduate education, as well as loans for career-training programs and other education needs.