Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Grows Stock Holdings in First Busey Corporation $BUSE

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 36,664.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,131,973 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,123,454 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in First Busey were worth $74,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BUSE. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 95.9% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 18,143 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 8,884 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 198,945 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,297,000 after purchasing an additional 28,605 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 64.1% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 49,724 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 19,431 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 469,310 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,137,000 after purchasing an additional 38,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in First Busey by 78.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 222,048 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,796,000 after acquiring an additional 97,560 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

In related news, CAO Scott A. Phillips acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.90 per share, with a total value of $129,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,265. This trade represents a 149.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BUSE has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of First Busey from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of First Busey from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of First Busey from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.50.

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BUSE opened at $25.81 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $25.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.95. The company has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47 and a beta of 0.72. First Busey Corporation has a 52-week low of $21.41 and a 52-week high of $27.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. First Busey had a net margin of 19.16% and a return on equity of 10.19%. The firm had revenue of $197.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.15 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that First Busey Corporation will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 24th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 24th. First Busey’s payout ratio is presently 46.22%.

About First Busey

First Busey (NASDAQ: BUSE) is a bank holding company headquartered in Champaign, Illinois, with roots tracing back to the founding of Busey Bank in 1868. As a regional financial institution, it offers a broad spectrum of banking services to individuals, small businesses, and corporations. Its core activities include commercial lending, deposit-taking, and cash management, which are tailored to meet the needs of local communities across its operating footprint.

In addition to traditional banking operations, First Busey provides wealth management and trust services through its subsidiary aimed at high-net-worth clients and fiduciary accounts.