HighTower Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD)

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 182 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walker & Dunlop were worth $1,928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Walker & Dunlop during the third quarter valued at $19,843,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 29.3% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Walker & Dunlop in the third quarter worth $1,568,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 20.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 13,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,552,000 after purchasing an additional 2,362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,050 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO William M. Walker purchased 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was acquired 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 owns 411,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,455,672.91. This trade represents a 4.44 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 5.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walker & Dunlop Price Performance

WD stock opened at $85.69 on Monday. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a 1-year low of $81.07 and a 1-year high of $118.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.86 and a beta of 1.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $89.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.87.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 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 firm had revenue of $341.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.82 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Walker & Dunlop Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.