Millennium Management LLC Cuts Stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Millennium Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) by 14.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,546,540 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 428,568 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned about 3.41% of BankUnited worth $97,201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 182.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in BankUnited by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,380 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in BankUnited by 270.6% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 1,407 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the fourth quarter valued at $113,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,028 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 1,883 shares during the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKU has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $50.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on BankUnited from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on BankUnited from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on BankUnited from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of BankUnited from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BankUnited has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $40.55.

BankUnited Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of BKU stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $36.39. The stock had a trading volume of 696,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 795,552. BankUnited, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.78 and a 12-month high of $44.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm's 50-day moving average is $33.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $255.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $264.35 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 8.48%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 11th. 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 dividend yield of 3.41%. BankUnited's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.51%.

Insider Activity

In other BankUnited news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 12,250 shares in the company, valued at $430,955. This represents a 20.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti bought 1,000 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 21,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $715,103.06. This represents a 4.81% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.15% 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.