O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Sells 31,365 Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC reduced its position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) by 68.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,449 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 31,365 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC's holdings in BankUnited were worth $552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BKU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,821,480 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $107,696,000 after purchasing an additional 322,368 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 362,487 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,836,000 after purchasing an additional 10,064 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in BankUnited during the fourth quarter worth $766,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 462.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 27,955 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 22,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 181,493 shares during the period. 99.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BKU. Barclays cut their price objective on BankUnited from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of BankUnited from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of BankUnited from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on BankUnited from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of BankUnited from $50.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $42.18.

BankUnited Price Performance

BankUnited stock traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $30.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 61,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 775,894. BankUnited, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.34 and a 12 month high of $44.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 1.20. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $35.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.56.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.19. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 11.48%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. Analysts anticipate that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.03%. This is an increase from BankUnited's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. BankUnited's payout ratio is 40.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BankUnited news, Director Sanjiv Sobti acquired 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $32.07 per share, for a total transaction of $64,140.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 20,782 shares in the company, valued at $666,478.74. This represents a 10.65 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total value of $113,772.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,250 shares in the company, valued at $430,955. The trade was a 20.89 % 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.

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.