Janus Henderson Group PLC Buys 8,571 Shares of Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD)

Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,845,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,571 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned about 0.05% of Walker & Dunlop worth $179,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Walker & Dunlop by 456.4% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 306 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Walker & Dunlop by 230.8% during 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 last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Walker & Dunlop by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Walker & Dunlop during the fourth quarter valued at about $178,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Walker & Dunlop by 42.9% during 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 last quarter. 80.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walker & Dunlop

In other Walker & Dunlop news, CEO William M. Walker purchased 17,500 shares of Walker & Dunlop stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owns 411,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,455,672.91. The trade was a 4.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.66% of the company’s stock.

Walker & Dunlop Trading Down 1.1%

WD stock opened at $70.79 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $79.42 and its 200 day moving average is $92.29. The stock has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19 and a beta of 1.64. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.59 and a 1-year high of $118.19.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $237.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $260.43 million. Walker & Dunlop had a return on equity of 9.64% and a net margin of 9.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 4.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walker & Dunlop Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Walker & Dunlop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Walker & Dunlop from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Walker & Dunlop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 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.