Jennison Associates LLC Sells 695,791 Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Jennison Associates LLC lessened its stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) by 48.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 730,844 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 695,791 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned 0.98% of BankUnited worth $26,632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKU. CWM LLC raised its position in BankUnited by 307.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited during the 2nd quarter worth $74,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,637 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the 3rd quarter valued at $181,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in BankUnited in the second quarter worth $169,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total transaction of $102,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,428,410.66. This trade represents a 6.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on BKU shares. Wedbush boosted their price target on BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $37.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded BankUnited from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BankUnited currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $37.40.

BankUnited Price Performance

BankUnited stock traded up $0.92 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $42.72. 669,448 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 887,319. BankUnited, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.34 and a twelve month high of $42.83. The company has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.51 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $37.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.11.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $258.65 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. Equities analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th were given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. BankUnited's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.54%.

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.