Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Decreases Position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp decreased its holdings in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,439 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned about 0.13% of BankUnited worth $3,629,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in BankUnited by 182.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of BankUnited by 270.6% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in BankUnited in the fourth quarter valued at $113,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in BankUnited by 87.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 1,883 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in BankUnited by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $193,000 after buying an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total transaction of $113,772.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,955. The trade was a 20.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $32.83 per share, with a total value of $32,830.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,782 shares in the company, valued at $715,103.06. This represents a 4.81 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BankUnited Stock Performance

NYSE BKU opened at $34.44 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s 50 day moving average is $37.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.03. BankUnited, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.34 and a 12-month high of $44.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.19. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 11.48%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. Research analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on BKU shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays dropped their price target on BankUnited from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Compass Point increased their price objective on BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of BankUnited from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.45.

BankUnited Company Profile

BankUnited, Inc operates as the bank holding company for BankUnited, a national banking association that provides a range of banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, such as checking, money market deposit, and savings accounts; certificates of deposit; and treasury, commercial payment, and cash management services.