Texas Permanent School Fund Cuts Stake in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD)

Texas Permanent School Fund lowered its position in shares of Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD – Get Rating) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,456 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund owned 0.06% of Walker & Dunlop worth $1,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 5,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of Walker & Dunlop in the 4th quarter valued at about $219,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 35,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,796,000 after purchasing an additional 2,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional purchased a new position in shares of Walker & Dunlop in the 4th quarter valued at about $891,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.78% of the company’s stock.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Performance

Walker & Dunlop stock opened at $66.59 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $72.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.66. The company has a market capitalization of $2.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.21 and a beta of 1.39. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.06 and a fifty-two week high of $115.19.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $238.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $259.01 million. Walker & Dunlop had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 10.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walker & Dunlop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 18th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 17th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. Walker & Dunlop’s payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on WD. JMP Securities downgraded Walker & Dunlop from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 2nd. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of Walker & Dunlop from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, May 8th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Walker & Dunlop from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 31st. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Walker & Dunlop from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, May 5th.

Insider Activity at Walker & Dunlop

In other Walker & Dunlop news, EVP Paula A. Pryor sold 5,596 shares of Walker & Dunlop stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.04, for a total value of $498,267.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 13,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,164,376.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 5.47% of the company’s stock.

Walker & Dunlop Company Profile

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Walker & Dunlop, Inc is a holding company. engages in the provision of commercial real estate and finance services. It focuses on multifamily lending, debt brokerage, and property sales. It also involves the delivery and servicing of loan products for its customers. The company was founded by Oliver Walker and Laird Dunlop in 1937 and is headquartered in Bethesda, MD.