Strs Ohio Increases Position in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD)

Strs Ohio increased its stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) by 114.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 800 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Walker & Dunlop were worth $166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in Walker & Dunlop by 2.1% during the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $733,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in Walker & Dunlop by 1.7% during the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 12,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $912,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Walker & Dunlop during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in Walker & Dunlop by 2.3% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 12,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in Walker & Dunlop by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 9,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. 80.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Howard W. Smith III sold 20,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.56, for a total transaction of $1,886,730.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 191,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,917,488.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Howard W. Smith III sold 20,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.56, for a total transaction of $1,886,730.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 191,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,917,488.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Paula A. Pryor sold 1,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.09, for a total transaction of $179,523.72. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,791.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,074 shares of company stock worth $4,328,255 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.26% of the company’s stock.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Performance

Shares of Walker & Dunlop stock opened at $91.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.38. The company has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.81 and a beta of 1.53. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.06 and a fifty-two week high of $113.67.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $274.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $276.76 million. Walker & Dunlop had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 9.15%. The company’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

Walker & Dunlop Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This is an increase from Walker & Dunlop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Walker & Dunlop’s dividend payout ratio is 81.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wedbush downgraded shares of Walker & Dunlop from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Walker & Dunlop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

About Walker & Dunlop

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.