Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 25,500 Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Prudential Financial Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 383,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 25,500 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $14,654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BKU. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of BankUnited by 182.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in BankUnited by 270.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in BankUnited in the 4th quarter worth $113,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in BankUnited by 9.2% in the fourth 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 period. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BankUnited Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:BKU opened at $35.20 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.01. BankUnited, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.34 and a 12 month high of $44.45. The company has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 1.40.

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, beating 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 period last year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This is an increase from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is 37.66%.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In other BankUnited news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 12,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,955. This trade represents a 20.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $32.07 per share, with a total value of $64,140.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 20,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $666,478.74. This trade represents a 10.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Hovde Group decreased their target price on shares of BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays dropped their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on BankUnited from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on BankUnited from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.45.

BankUnited 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.