Cozad Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in First Busey Corporation $BUSE

Cozad Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 346,737 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 7,833 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.39% of First Busey worth $7,935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 19.0% during the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 50,566 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 8,064 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in First Busey by 103.8% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,322 shares of the bank’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 2,711 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in First Busey by 24.2% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 401,046 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,663,000 after buying an additional 78,233 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in First Busey by 52.6% during the 1st quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,456 shares of the bank’s stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 4,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in First Busey in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $582,000. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on First Busey from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of First Busey in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (down previously from $28.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Scott A. Phillips purchased 1,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.64 per share, for a total transaction of $34,614.00. Following the acquisition, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,254. This trade represents a 135.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $24.60 per share, for a total transaction of $73,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 86,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,135,230.80. This represents a 3.58% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.85% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Stock Up 3.5%

First Busey stock opened at $23.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of 20.18 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $23.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.21. First Busey Corporation has a 1-year low of $18.40 and a 1-year high of $28.30.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 20th. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. First Busey had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 9.56%. The business had revenue of $63.34 million for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts expect that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 24th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 24th. First Busey’s payout ratio is presently 86.96%.

First Busey 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.