LRI Investments LLC Makes New Investment in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD)

LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $98,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Castleark Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walker & Dunlop in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,297,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Walker & Dunlop during the first quarter valued at approximately $795,000. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in Walker & Dunlop by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 15,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,750,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Voss Capital LLC boosted its stake in Walker & Dunlop by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Voss Capital LLC now owns 84,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,369,000 after acquiring an additional 12,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Walker & Dunlop in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,444,000. Institutional investors own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Paula A. Pryor sold 4,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.33, for a total value of $441,196.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $898,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 5.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WD. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Walker & Dunlop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Walker & Dunlop from $105.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a report on Friday, May 3rd.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Down 1.0 %

WD stock opened at $102.29 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.33 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.47. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.51 and a 52 week high of $113.67.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $228.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $251.82 million. Walker & Dunlop had a net margin of 8.87% and a return on equity of 9.16%. Walker & Dunlop’s quarterly revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

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.