Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) Shares Purchased by Atria Investments Inc

Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Walker & Dunlop were worth $421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WD. Keybank National Association OH increased its position in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 6,585 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $640,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 6,983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $679,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 460,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,728,000 after acquiring an additional 8,915 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 230.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP increased its position in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 3,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. 80.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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, March 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walker & Dunlop

In related news, 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, for a total transaction of $1,508,675.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 411,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,455,672.91. The trade was a 4.44 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.47% of the company’s stock.

Walker & Dunlop Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WD opened at $87.33 on Monday. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a 12 month low of $81.07 and a 12 month high of $118.19. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.38 and a beta of 1.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $90.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.57.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $341.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.82 million. Walker & Dunlop had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 9.64%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 4.97 EPS for the current year.

Walker & Dunlop Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is an increase from Walker & Dunlop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Walker & Dunlop’s payout ratio is 84.01%.

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.