Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Acquires Shares of 2,353 Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 42.2% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 28.4% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $194,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop in the third quarter valued at about $230,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

Walker & Dunlop Trading Down 0.1 %

WD opened at $86.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of 27.10 and a beta of 1.63. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a twelve month low of $81.07 and a twelve month high of $118.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $90.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.00.

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). The business had revenue of $341.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.82 million. Walker & Dunlop had a return on equity of 9.64% and a net margin of 9.55%. As a group, analysts predict that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walker & Dunlop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Walker & Dunlop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. Walker & Dunlop’s payout ratio is presently 84.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walker & Dunlop news, CEO William M. Walker purchased 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $86.21 per share, for a total transaction of $1,508,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 5.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of 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.

Walker & Dunlop Company 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.