BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Shares Bought by Verition Fund Management LLC

Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) by 172.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,464 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 16,751 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC's holdings in BankUnited were worth $964,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in BankUnited by 8.2% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 632,632 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $18,517,000 after acquiring an additional 48,059 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited in the 2nd quarter valued at $799,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in BankUnited during the third quarter worth $443,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in BankUnited during the second quarter valued at $515,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in BankUnited by 7.2% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 41,438 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,213,000 after buying an additional 2,778 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKU has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on BankUnited from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $40.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

BankUnited Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BKU traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $41.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 663,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 808,427. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.00 and a beta of 1.36. BankUnited, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.34 and a 12-month high of $44.45. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $38.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $515.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.65 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 8.09%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.89 EPS 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 issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 11th. BankUnited's payout ratio is currently 47.54%.

BankUnited Company 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.