Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.85 Million in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 16,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,854,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 2,145 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in Walker & Dunlop by 1.7% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 28,424 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,678,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Walker & Dunlop by 47.8% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 15,223 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,970,000 after purchasing an additional 4,925 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in Walker & Dunlop by 2.4% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 79,654 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,309,000 after buying an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its stake in Walker & Dunlop by 1.0% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 26,233 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,482,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. 80.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walker & Dunlop Price Performance

Walker & Dunlop stock traded up $1.26 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $91.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 221,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 233,675. The company has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.32 and a beta of 1.53. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.06 and a 1-year high of $113.67. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $94.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.87.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $274.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $276.76 million. Walker & Dunlop had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 9.15%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 4.21 EPS for the current year.

Walker & Dunlop Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a positive change from Walker & Dunlop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Walker & Dunlop's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walker & Dunlop

In other news, CFO Gregory Florkowski sold 4,000 shares of Walker & Dunlop stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.45, for a total value of $385,800.00. Following 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Howard W. Smith III sold 20,166 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.56, for a total value of $1,886,730.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 191,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,917,488.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Gregory Florkowski sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.45, for a total transaction of $385,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 11,809 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,978.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,074 shares of company stock worth $4,328,255 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WD shares. Wedbush cut shares of Walker & Dunlop from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Walker & Dunlop from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $100.00.

Walker & Dunlop Profile

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.