JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Stock Holdings in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,821,480 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 322,368 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 3.77% of BankUnited worth $107,696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in BankUnited by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,598,953 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $366,392,000 after purchasing an additional 181,493 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in BankUnited by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,719,596 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $62,674,000 after acquiring an additional 20,218 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in BankUnited by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,149,827 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,889,000 after acquiring an additional 36,328 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in BankUnited by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 663,084 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $24,163,000 after acquiring an additional 39,797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 403,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $15,383,000 after purchasing an additional 74,000 shares during the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKU has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on BankUnited from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut BankUnited from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on BankUnited from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded BankUnited from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $41.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $43.45.

BankUnited Stock Performance

NYSE BKU traded up $0.04 on Monday, reaching $29.82. The stock had a trading volume of 1,196,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 771,212. The stock has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.68 and a beta of 1.20. BankUnited, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.34 and a 12-month high of $44.45. The business's 50-day moving average price is $36.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.86.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.19. 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 business posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. This is a boost from BankUnited's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. BankUnited's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.26%.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In other BankUnited news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 12,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $430,955. This represents a 20.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $32.83 per share, for a total transaction of $32,830.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $715,103.06. The trade was a 4.81 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.19% of the company's stock.

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.