Denali Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Denali Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,000 shares of the bank's stock after selling 12,900 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.18% of First Busey worth $2,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in First Busey by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,497,004 shares of the bank's stock worth $38,952,000 after acquiring an additional 6,367 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,295,804 shares of the bank's stock worth $33,723,000 after purchasing an additional 22,096 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in First Busey by 1.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 694,444 shares of the bank's stock valued at $18,069,000 after buying an additional 8,083 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in First Busey by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 482,287 shares of the bank's stock worth $12,549,000 after buying an additional 39,900 shares during the period. Finally, Peregrine Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in First Busey in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,498,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

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

First Busey Stock Performance

BUSE remained flat at $23.99 on Friday. 1,673,777 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 394,258. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $23.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.22. The company has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 0.87. First Busey Co. has a one year low of $21.59 and a one year high of $28.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, analysts predict that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. This is a boost from First Busey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. First Busey's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw acquired 1,838 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $23.75 per share, for a total transaction of $43,652.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 437,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,390,173.75. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 7.10% of the company's stock.

About First Busey

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.