Stanley J. Bradshaw Buys 1,838 Shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Stock

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 1,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $23.75 per share, with a total value of $43,652.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 437,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,390,173.75. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of BUSE traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $23.99. The stock had a trading volume of 230,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 345,781. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 0.87. First Busey Co. has a 52 week low of $21.59 and a 52 week high of $28.97. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $23.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.23.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 17.14%. On average, equities research analysts expect that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 2.7% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 20,427 shares of the bank’s stock worth $532,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in First Busey by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 7,396 shares of the bank’s stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in First Busey by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 30,293 shares of the bank’s stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in First Busey by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 111,799 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,635,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of First Busey by 161.1% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BUSE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

First Busey Company Profile

First Busey Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Busey Bank that engages in the provision of retail and commercial banking products and services to individual, corporate, institutional, and governmental customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Banking, Wealth Management, and FirsTech.