First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Michael David Cassens Sells 750 Shares

First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Michael David Cassens sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.92, for a total transaction of $17,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 141,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,243,890.52. The trade was a 0.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

First Busey Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of BUSE opened at $22.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a PE ratio of 19.43 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company’s fifty day moving average is $23.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.21. First Busey Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $18.40 and a fifty-two week high of $28.30.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 20th. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $63.34 million for the quarter. First Busey had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 11.00%. Analysts forecast that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 24th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 24th. First Busey’s payout ratio is currently 86.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Busey

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in First Busey by 56.4% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,251 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Busey by 726.1% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,280 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 2,004 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in First Busey by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,524 shares of the bank’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in shares of First Busey in the third quarter worth about $86,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 103.8% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,322 shares of the bank’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on BUSE. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of First Busey in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of First Busey from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target (down previously from $28.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Busey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.33.

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.