Mackenzie Financial Corp Takes Position in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD)

Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $548,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Walker & Dunlop by 16.6% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 296,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,976,000 after acquiring an additional 42,160 shares during the last quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Walker & Dunlop in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,644,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Walker & Dunlop by 2.2% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 90,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,745,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Walker & Dunlop by 9.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 395,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,376,000 after buying an additional 35,454 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisor OS LLC raised its stake in Walker & Dunlop by 115.7% in the third quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 19,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after buying an additional 10,264 shares during the period. 80.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on WD. StockNews.com downgraded Walker & Dunlop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wedbush cut shares of Walker & Dunlop from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.00.

Walker & Dunlop Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE WD opened at $93.10 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $94.05 and its 200-day moving average is $90.78. The firm has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.28 and a beta of 1.53. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.06 and a 1-year high of $113.67.

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

Walker & Dunlop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Walker & Dunlop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. Walker & Dunlop’s payout ratio is 81.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walker & Dunlop

In other news, Director Howard W. Smith III sold 20,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 191,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,917,488.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Howard W. Smith III sold 20,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.56, for a total transaction of $1,886,730.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 191,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,917,488.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gregory Florkowski sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.45, for a total value of $385,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 11,809 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,978.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,074 shares of company stock valued at $4,328,255 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.47% of the company’s stock.

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.