Franklin Resources Inc. Has $4.19 Million Stock Holdings in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. $WD

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 59,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,328 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Walker & Dunlop were worth $4,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Walker & Dunlop during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 115.8% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop in the first quarter worth $51,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Walker & Dunlop by 81.9% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in Walker & Dunlop in the first quarter valued at $112,000. Institutional investors own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on WD. JMP Securities set a $95.00 target price on Walker & Dunlop and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Walker & Dunlop from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Walker & Dunlop from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, October 10th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Walker & Dunlop to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.25.

Walker & Dunlop Price Performance

NYSE WD opened at $64.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.89 and a beta of 1.66. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.22. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a one year low of $60.72 and a one year high of $111.27.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $337.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $325.10 million. Walker & Dunlop had a return on equity of 8.81% and a net margin of 9.27%.The company’s revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Walker & Dunlop Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. Walker & Dunlop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.53%.

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.