Stanley J. Bradshaw Purchases 1,700 Shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Stock

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Stanley J. Bradshaw purchased 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $21.70 per share, with a total value of $36,890.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 482,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,462,503.10. The trade was a 0.35 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

First Busey Price Performance

NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $22.08 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21 and a beta of 0.84. First Busey Co. has a 1 year low of $21.20 and a 1 year high of $28.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

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

First Busey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BUSE shares. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price target (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Three investment 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 1,173.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank purchased a new position in First Busey during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in First Busey during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in First Busey by 161.1% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in First Busey by 822.7% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares during the period. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.