BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Shares Purchased by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,821,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 322,368 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 3.77% of BankUnited worth $107,696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in BankUnited in the 3rd quarter valued at about $434,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 40.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 275,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,041,000 after buying an additional 78,753 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in BankUnited by 211.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 59,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,172,000 after acquiring an additional 40,461 shares during the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC grew its stake in BankUnited by 91.3% in the 3rd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 20,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $737,000 after acquiring an additional 9,650 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in BankUnited by 172.5% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 26,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $964,000 after acquiring an additional 16,751 shares during the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BKU shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on BankUnited from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Hovde Group lowered their target price on shares of BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of BankUnited from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BankUnited presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.45.

Insider Activity

In other BankUnited news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,250 shares in the company, valued at $430,955. This trade represents a 20.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.83 per share, for a total transaction of $32,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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. Insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Price Performance

BKU stock opened at $34.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.86. BankUnited, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.34 and a 1 year high of $44.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.99.

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

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.26%.

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.