Raymond James Has Lowered Expectations for First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Stock Price

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) had its target price cut by research analysts at Raymond James from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the bank’s stock. Raymond James’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 24.94% from the stock’s current price.

BUSE has been the topic of several other research reports. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research report on Monday, February 24th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 target price (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, First Busey presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.80.

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of BUSE stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $21.61. 34,408 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 295,811. First Busey has a 52-week low of $21.13 and a 52-week high of $28.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.96 and a beta of 0.84.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%. Research analysts predict that First Busey will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw acquired 1,700 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $21.70 per share, for a total transaction of $36,890.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 482,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,462,503.10. This trade represents a 0.35 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in First Busey by 145.4% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,954 shares of the bank’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 17,155 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in First Busey in the third quarter worth $224,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in First Busey by 1.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 694,444 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,069,000 after purchasing an additional 8,083 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 168.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 149,279 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,884,000 after buying an additional 93,733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 3rd quarter valued at about $330,000. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

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.