Norges Bank Acquires New Shares in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 413,802 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $40,226,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.23% of Walker & Dunlop at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in Walker & Dunlop in the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,384,000. M.D. Sass LLC increased its position in Walker & Dunlop by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. M.D. Sass LLC now owns 264,855 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,747,000 after buying an additional 96,563 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Walker & Dunlop by 111.3% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 153,539 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $14,926,000 after buying an additional 80,890 shares during the period. First Sabrepoint Capital Management LP increased its position in Walker & Dunlop by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Sabrepoint Capital Management LP now owns 150,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $17,038,000 after buying an additional 75,000 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in Walker & Dunlop by 380.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 56,520 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,420,000 after buying an additional 44,748 shares during the period. 80.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Walker & Dunlop Trading Down 3.7 %

WD stock traded down $2.93 during trading on Thursday, hitting $75.72. The company had a trading volume of 15,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 217,709. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $85.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.28. The company has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.74 and a beta of 1.42. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $70.67 and a fifty-two week high of $118.19.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $341.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.82 million. Walker & Dunlop had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 9.64%. On average, analysts expect that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Walker & Dunlop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. This is a positive change from Walker & Dunlop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Walker & Dunlop's payout ratio is currently 84.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO William M. Walker purchased 17,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $86.21 per share, with a total value of $1,508,675.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 411,271 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,455,672.91. The trade was a 4.44 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 3.66% of the company's stock.

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 objective on the stock in a research report 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.