Trexquant Investment LP Sells 6,730 Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Trexquant Investment LP lowered its stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 251,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,730 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.34% of BankUnited worth $9,610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 68,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,597,000 after purchasing an additional 11,062 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in BankUnited by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 11,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $428,000 after buying an additional 1,756 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in BankUnited by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BankUnited in the fourth quarter valued at $412,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of BankUnited by 12.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 322,368 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sanjiv Sobti purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $32.83 per share, with a total value of $32,830.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,782 shares in the company, valued at $715,103.06. This trade represents a 4.81 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total transaction of $113,772.12. Following the sale, the insider now 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. 1.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BankUnited Stock Up 1.5 %

BKU opened at $34.55 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.36 and a 200-day moving average of $37.99. The company has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 1.40. 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 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.86.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. BankUnited’s payout ratio is 40.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised shares of BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays cut their price objective on BankUnited from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on BankUnited from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut BankUnited from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BankUnited has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.