Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC grew its position in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 190 shares during the quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walker & Dunlop were worth $231,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WD. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 29.5% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 3,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Walker & Dunlop by 20.9% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 2,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Walker & Dunlop during the third quarter worth about $885,000. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in Walker & Dunlop during the third quarter worth about $375,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Walker & Dunlop by 33.1% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,415,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $160,784,000 after buying an additional 351,957 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO William M. Walker acquired 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 411,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,455,672.91. This represents a 4.44 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.47% of the company’s stock.

Walker & Dunlop Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of WD opened at $86.25 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.04 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a 50-day moving average of $90.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.89. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a 12-month low of $81.07 and a 12-month high of $118.19.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) 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 forecast that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 4.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walker & Dunlop Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Walker & Dunlop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Walker & Dunlop’s payout ratio is currently 84.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of 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.

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.