Swiss National Bank Acquires 400 Shares of Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD)

Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Walker & Dunlop were worth $6,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Walker & Dunlop in the third quarter worth $19,843,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 bought a new position in shares of Walker & Dunlop during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,568,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Walker & Dunlop by 20.9% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Walker & Dunlop by 50.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

Walker & Dunlop Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE WD opened at $85.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of 26.86 and a beta of 1.63. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a 1-year low of $81.07 and a 1-year high of $118.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $89.58 and a 200-day moving average of $100.91.

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

Walker & Dunlop Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. This is an increase from Walker & Dunlop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Walker & Dunlop’s dividend payout ratio is 84.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Walker & Dunlop from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th.

Insider Transactions at Walker & Dunlop

In other Walker & Dunlop news, CEO William M. Walker bought 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $86.21 per share, for a total transaction of $1,508,675.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 411,271 shares in the company, valued at $35,455,672.91. The trade was a 4.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walker & Dunlop Profile

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.