Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Invests $321,000 in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 8,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $321,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in BankUnited by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $193,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in BankUnited by 182.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in BankUnited by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 8,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in BankUnited by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 14,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $547,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in BankUnited by 270.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. Compass Point upped their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.40.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In related news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,955. This represents a 20.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BankUnited Stock Performance

NYSE:BKU opened at $32.98 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. BankUnited, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.34 and a fifty-two week high of $44.45. The stock has a market cap of $2.47 billion, a PE ratio of 10.71 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.35.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS 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 in the previous year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. Analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share 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 $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is 37.66%.

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.