Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) Shares Purchased by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP raised its position in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Walker & Dunlop were worth $7,694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Walker & Dunlop in the third quarter worth about $19,843,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Walker & Dunlop by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 72,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,252,000 after purchasing an additional 16,481 shares in the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,568,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Walker & Dunlop by 20.9% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 13,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,552,000 after buying an additional 2,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Walker & Dunlop by 50.4% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 21,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,389,000 after buying an additional 7,050 shares during the last quarter. 80.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Walker & Dunlop from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th.

Walker & Dunlop Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WD opened at $86.23 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.03 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.29. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.07 and a 1 year high of $118.19.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.18). Walker & Dunlop had a return on equity of 9.64% and a net margin of 9.55%. The business had revenue of $341.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.82 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 4.97 EPS for the current year.

Walker & Dunlop Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. This is an increase from Walker & Dunlop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Walker & Dunlop’s payout ratio is 84.01%.

Insider Activity at Walker & Dunlop

In other Walker & Dunlop news, CEO William M. Walker bought 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $86.21 per share, with a total value of $1,508,675.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 411,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,455,672.91. This represents a 4.44 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 5.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Walker & Dunlop

Walker & Dunlop, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of commercial real estate and finance services. It operates through the following segments: Capital Markets, Servicing and Asset Management, and Corporate. The Capital Markets segment offers a comprehensive range of commercial real estate finance products to customers.