Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Has $345,000 Holdings in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) by 18.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 545 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Walker & Dunlop were worth $345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WD. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 42.2% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 230.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 28.4% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $194,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

Walker & Dunlop Trading Up 1.7 %

WD opened at $87.46 on Friday. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a 1-year low of $81.07 and a 1-year high of $118.19. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.27. The stock has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a PE ratio of 27.42 and a beta of 1.63.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.18). Walker & Dunlop had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 9.64%. The business had revenue of $341.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.82 million. Equities analysts forecast that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Walker & Dunlop Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is a boost from Walker & Dunlop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. Walker & Dunlop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.01%.

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 target on the stock in a research note on Thursday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO William M. Walker acquired 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $86.21 per share, for a total transaction of $1,508,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 411,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,455,672.91. This represents a 4.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 5.47% of the company’s stock.

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.