Nixon Capital LLC Has $8.89 Million Holdings in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD)

Nixon Capital LLC grew its stake in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 93,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,802 shares during the period. Walker & Dunlop makes up approximately 2.9% of Nixon Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Nixon Capital LLC’s holdings in Walker & Dunlop were worth $8,887,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WD. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 95,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,289,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,318,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $128,181,000 after purchasing an additional 90,725 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Walker & Dunlop in the 4th quarter valued at $211,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,046,000 after buying an additional 2,199 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 note on Thursday, March 6th.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Down 4.0 %

NYSE:WD opened at $75.05 on Tuesday. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.55 and a 12-month high of $118.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.53 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.09.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last released 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). Walker & Dunlop had a return on equity of 9.64% and a net margin of 9.55%. The firm had revenue of $341.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $316.82 million. As a group, equities research 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 announced 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 is a boost from Walker & Dunlop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. Walker & Dunlop’s dividend payout ratio is presently 84.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO William M. Walker bought 17,500 shares of Walker & Dunlop stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 411,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,455,672.91. This represents a 4.44 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.