GW&K Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD)

GW&K Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,092 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,969 shares during the quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Walker & Dunlop were worth $6,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Walker & Dunlop during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Walker & Dunlop in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Strs Ohio raised its stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 133.3% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in Walker & Dunlop during the fourth quarter valued at $205,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. purchased a new position in Walker & Dunlop in the 4th quarter valued at about $214,000. 80.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on WD. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Walker & Dunlop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd.

Walker & Dunlop Price Performance

WD opened at $98.73 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.03 and a beta of 1.54. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.67. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.51 and a 1-year high of $113.67.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.36. Walker & Dunlop had a net margin of 8.87% and a return on equity of 9.16%. The company had revenue of $228.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $251.82 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. Walker & Dunlop’s quarterly revenue was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walker & Dunlop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. Walker & Dunlop’s payout ratio is 94.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Paula A. Pryor sold 4,533 shares of Walker & Dunlop stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.33, for a total value of $441,196.89. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $898,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Walker & Dunlop news, EVP Paula A. Pryor sold 4,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.33, for a total value of $441,196.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,227 shares in the company, valued at $898,063.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gregory Florkowski sold 4,000 shares of Walker & Dunlop stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.45, for a total value of $385,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 11,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,978.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,699 shares of company stock valued at $2,713,728 over the last quarter. 5.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walker & Dunlop Company Profile

Walker & Dunlop, Inc, through its subsidiaries, originates, sells, and services a range of multifamily and other commercial real estate financing products and services for owners and developers of real estate in the United States. It operates through three segments: Capital Markets, Servicing & Asset Management, and Corporate.