Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Reduces Position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its holdings in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) by 57.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 370,142 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 498,664 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.50% of BankUnited worth $14,128,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BankUnited by 49.2% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,247,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $65,778,000 after buying an additional 740,896 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in BankUnited by 3,901.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 574,068 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $16,803,000 after buying an additional 559,720 shares in the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in BankUnited during the third quarter valued at about $17,745,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of BankUnited by 741.7% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 397,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,628,000 after acquiring an additional 350,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 7.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,583,059 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $134,144,000 after acquiring an additional 315,872 shares during the period. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total transaction of $421,527.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 100,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,911,000. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total transaction of $102,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,687 shares in the company, valued at $1,428,410.66. This represents a 6.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BKU. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of BankUnited from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wedbush raised their price objective on BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Compass Point increased their target price on BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $42.60.

BankUnited Trading Up 1.1 %

BKU traded up $0.44 during trading on Friday, hitting $39.81. 511,674 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 571,408. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.19. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32 and a beta of 1.38. BankUnited, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.34 and a 1 year high of $44.45.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $515.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.65 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 8.09%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. BankUnited's payout ratio is 47.54%.

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.