Citigroup Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Citigroup Inc. decreased its holdings in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 178,561 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 16,056 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.24% of BankUnited worth $6,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of BKU. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in BankUnited by 49.2% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,247,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $65,778,000 after buying an additional 740,896 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 3,901.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 574,068 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $16,803,000 after acquiring an additional 559,720 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in BankUnited by 741.7% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 397,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,628,000 after purchasing an additional 350,071 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 3,658.4% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 325,812 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,537,000 after purchasing an additional 317,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in 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 valued at $134,144,000 after purchasing an additional 315,872 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports 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 company from $38.00 to $48.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup reduced their target price on BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays raised their price target on BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on shares of BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.70.

BankUnited Stock Performance

Shares of BKU stock traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $42.07. The stock had a trading volume of 298,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 839,834. BankUnited, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.34 and a fifty-two week high of $44.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $37.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.58. The firm has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of 17.24 and a beta of 1.33.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 9.06%. The company had revenue of $515.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $258.65 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. BankUnited's payout ratio is currently 47.54%.

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.