Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 707,323 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 12,879 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.24% of First Busey worth $16,672,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of First Busey in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in First Busey during the third quarter valued at $171,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey in the 3rd quarter worth about $224,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of First Busey in the 3rd quarter worth about $330,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in First Busey during the 3rd quarter valued at about $337,000. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Busey news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 1,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $21.70 per share, for a total transaction of $36,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 482,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,462,503.10. This represents a 0.35 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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First Busey Stock Performance

NASDAQ BUSE traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $22.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 360,654 shares, compared to its average volume of 277,537. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 0.84. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $23.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.77. First Busey Co. has a 12 month low of $21.21 and a 12 month high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase 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 4.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. First Busey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BUSE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $33.00 price objective (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Busey currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.00.

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.