T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,351,946 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 90,582 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned 3.15% of BankUnited worth $89,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BKU. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 worth $366,392,000 after buying an additional 181,493 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in BankUnited by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,821,480 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $107,696,000 after buying an additional 322,368 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its position in BankUnited by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,149,827 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,889,000 after buying an additional 36,328 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in BankUnited by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 530,938 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $20,266,000 after buying an additional 80,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC acquired a new position in BankUnited during the fourth quarter worth approximately $18,663,000. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Hovde Group lowered their price target on BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on BankUnited from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their price objective on BankUnited from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $40.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In other news, Director Sanjiv Sobti acquired 2,000 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $32.07 per share, with a total value of $64,140.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 20,782 shares in the company, 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 is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the company's 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 in the company, valued at approximately $430,955. This represents a 20.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.15% of the company's stock.

BankUnited Price Performance

BKU stock traded up $0.36 during trading on Thursday, reaching $33.07. 155,043 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 786,447. The company has a 50-day moving average of $33.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.26. The company has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.72 and a beta of 1.20. BankUnited, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.78 and a twelve 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.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. BankUnited had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 8.48%. The firm had revenue of $255.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $264.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th were given a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from BankUnited's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 11th. BankUnited's dividend payout ratio is 40.26%.

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.