Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) CEO Buys $1,508,675.00 in Stock

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) CEO William M. Walker purchased 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $86.21 per share, with a total value of $1,508,675.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 411,271 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE WD opened at $87.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.42 and a beta of 1.63. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $102.27. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a twelve month low of $81.07 and a twelve month 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). The business had revenue of $341.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.82 million. Walker & Dunlop had a return on equity of 9.64% and a net margin of 9.55%. On average, equities analysts expect that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walker & Dunlop Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. This is a positive change from Walker & Dunlop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Walker & Dunlop’s dividend payout ratio is 84.01%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop during the 3rd quarter valued at about $19,843,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 29.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 72,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,252,000 after buying an additional 16,481 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 2,259,700.0% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 22,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,567,000 after purchasing an additional 22,597 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Walker & Dunlop during the third quarter worth $1,568,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,362 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Walker & Dunlop from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday.

Walker & Dunlop Company 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.