Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 414,571 Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Alliancebernstein L.P. trimmed its stake in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 11.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,265,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 414,571 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 4.37% of BankUnited worth $124,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,598,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $366,392,000 after buying an additional 181,493 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in BankUnited by 12.9% during the 4th 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in BankUnited by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,719,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,674,000 after purchasing an additional 20,218 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in BankUnited by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,149,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,889,000 after purchasing an additional 36,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 663,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,163,000 after purchasing an additional 39,797 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler upgraded BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Compass Point raised their price target on BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. 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 research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total value of $113,772.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,955. This trade represents a 20.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.83 per share, with a total value of $32,830.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,782 shares in the company, valued at $715,103.06. The trade was 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 Stock Up 1.5 %

BKU opened at $34.55 on Thursday. 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. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $37.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.99. The company has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 1.40.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

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

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.