Trexquant Investment LP Sells 6,730 Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Trexquant Investment LP reduced its holdings in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 251,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,730 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $9,610,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,821,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $107,696,000 after acquiring an additional 322,368 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in BankUnited by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,598,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $366,392,000 after purchasing an additional 181,493 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in BankUnited in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,302,000. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in BankUnited by 194.1% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 193,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,035,000 after buying an additional 127,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the fourth quarter worth $3,668,000. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on BKU. Piper Sandler raised BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on BankUnited from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on BankUnited from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of BankUnited from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.45.

BankUnited Trading Up 1.5 %

BKU opened at $34.55 on Thursday. BankUnited, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.34 and a twelve month high of $44.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $37.36 and a 200-day moving average of $37.99. The stock has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. BankUnited’s payout ratio is presently 40.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In related news, Director Sanjiv Sobti purchased 2,000 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.07 per share, for a total transaction of $64,140.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 20,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $666,478.74. This trade represents a 10.65 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 12,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,955. This trade represents a 20.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

About BankUnited

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.