Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. Raises Stock Position in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD)

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) by 13.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 144,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,103 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Walker & Dunlop were worth $14,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Walker & Dunlop by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 72,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,252,000 after acquiring an additional 16,481 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 230.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop in the fourth quarter worth about $687,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Walker & Dunlop by 380.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 56,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,420,000 after buying an additional 44,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Walker & Dunlop during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,226,000. Institutional investors own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Down 1.4 %

Walker & Dunlop stock opened at $74.08 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $83.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.19. The company has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of 23.22 and a beta of 1.42. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.59 and a twelve month high of $118.19.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $341.45 million for 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%. As a group, sell-side 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Walker & Dunlop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Walker & Dunlop’s dividend payout ratio is presently 84.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO William M. Walker acquired 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $35,455,672.91. This trade represents a 4.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Walker & Dunlop from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th.

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.