Alliancebernstein L.P. Lowers Position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Alliancebernstein L.P. trimmed its position in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 11.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,265,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 414,571 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $124,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of BankUnited by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,821,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $107,696,000 after purchasing an additional 322,368 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in BankUnited by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,598,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $366,392,000 after buying an additional 181,493 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,302,000. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 194.1% during the 3rd 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 purchased a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the 4th quarter worth about $3,668,000. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Stock Performance

Shares of BKU stock opened at $34.55 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $37.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.99. BankUnited, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.34 and a 52 week high of $44.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.22 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 (EPS) 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sanjiv Sobti purchased 1,000 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $32.83 per share, for a total transaction of $32,830.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 21,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $715,103.06. The trade was a 4.81 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total transaction of $113,772.12. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler raised shares of BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. 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 report on Friday, December 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Hovde Group lowered their price objective on BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on BankUnited from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.