20,400 Shares in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Bought by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. purchased a new stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 20,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $703,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in BankUnited during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,525,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in BankUnited during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,499,000. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the fourth quarter worth $18,663,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake 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 period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of BankUnited by 36.8% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,059,697 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,496,000 after acquiring an additional 285,092 shares during the period. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BankUnited Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE BKU traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $37.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 826,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 790,610. BankUnited, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.21 and a 52-week high of $44.45. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $35.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 1.29.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $255.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $264.35 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 12.26% and a return on equity of 8.66%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 11th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 11th. BankUnited's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.51%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John N. Digiacomo sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.43, for a total value of $34,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $499,785.88. The trade was a 6.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Leslie Lunak sold 22,776 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.56, for a total value of $764,362.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,899 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,010,210.44. This trade represents a 27.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKU has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of BankUnited in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of BankUnited from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Hovde Group reduced their target price on shares of BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $40.58.

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.