BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 383,926 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 25,500 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.51% of BankUnited worth $14,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in BankUnited by 182.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BankUnited by 270.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,407 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of BankUnited in the 4th quarter valued at about $113,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,028 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 1,883 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in BankUnited by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In other news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total transaction of $113,772.12. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti acquired 1,000 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $32.83 per share, with a total value of $32,830.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $715,103.06. This trade represents a 4.81 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BankUnited Stock Performance

BankUnited stock traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $34.01. 925,372 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 763,457. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $37.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.01. BankUnited, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.34 and a twelve month high of $44.45.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 last year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. Equities analysts predict that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from BankUnited's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. BankUnited's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKU has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of BankUnited from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $41.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Hovde Group reduced their price target on shares of BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut BankUnited from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $43.45.

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.