Wedbush Lowers Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) to Neutral

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) was downgraded by research analysts at Wedbush from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They presently have a $95.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $130.00. Wedbush’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 4.45% from the stock’s current price. Wedbush also issued estimates for Walker & Dunlop’s Q2 2024 earnings at $0.77 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $0.86 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.27 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $3.40 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $4.30 EPS.

WD has been the subject of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Walker & Dunlop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.00.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Performance

Walker & Dunlop stock opened at $90.95 on Thursday. Walker & Dunlop has a one year low of $61.06 and a one year high of $113.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $94.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 28.60 and a beta of 1.53.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.38. Walker & Dunlop had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 10.18%. The company had revenue of $274.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $276.76 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. Walker & Dunlop’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Walker & Dunlop will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Gregory Florkowski sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.45, for a total transaction of $385,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,809 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,978.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Walker & Dunlop news, CFO Gregory Florkowski sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.45, for a total transaction of $385,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 11,809 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,978.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Paula A. Pryor sold 1,908 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.09, for a total value of $179,523.72. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,791.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,074 shares of company stock worth $4,328,255 in the last three months. 5.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walker & Dunlop

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 360.0% during the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walker & Dunlop during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walker & Dunlop during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Walker & Dunlop by 5,066.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio boosted its stake in Walker & Dunlop by 133.3% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

About Walker & Dunlop

Walker & Dunlop, Inc, through its subsidiaries, originates, sells, and services a range of multifamily and other commercial real estate financing products and services for owners and developers of real estate in the United States. It operates through three segments: Capital Markets, Servicing & Asset Management, and Corporate.