American Century Companies Inc. Trims Position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its holdings in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 18.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,741,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 381,415 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 2.33% of BankUnited worth $66,466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BKU. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the fourth quarter worth about $766,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in BankUnited by 462.0% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 27,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,067,000 after acquiring an additional 22,981 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in BankUnited by 211.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 59,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after acquiring an additional 40,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new position in BankUnited in the third quarter valued at approximately $347,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In other news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total value of $113,772.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,250 shares in the company, valued at $430,955. This represents a 20.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti acquired 1,000 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $32.83 per share, for a total transaction of $32,830.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $715,103.06. This represents a 4.81 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BKU shares. Compass Point raised their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on BankUnited from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.45.

BankUnited Stock Performance

NYSE BKU opened at $35.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.04. The company has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a PE ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 1.40. BankUnited, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.34 and a 1-year high of $44.45.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced 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 return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 11.48%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.66%.

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.