Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. lessened its position in shares of Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,116,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 144,282 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 3.31% of Walker & Dunlop worth $108,522,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 79.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $449,000 after buying an additional 1,752 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Walker & Dunlop by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 18,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,145,000 after purchasing an additional 669 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Walker & Dunlop by 48.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,227,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $139,474,000 after purchasing an additional 402,313 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 20.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 13,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,552,000 after purchasing an additional 2,362 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 0.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 85,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,725,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walker & Dunlop news, CEO William M. Walker acquired 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $86.21 per share, with a total value of $1,508,675.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 411,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,455,672.91. This trade represents a 4.44 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walker & Dunlop Trading Up 2.6 %

Walker & Dunlop stock opened at $85.28 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $88.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.82. The stock has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.73 and a beta of 1.63. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.07 and a 52 week high of $118.19.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.18). The firm 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%. Research analysts expect that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walker & Dunlop Increases Dividend

The company 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 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 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Walker & Dunlop’s payout ratio is presently 84.01%.

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.