Emerald Advisers LLC Takes $9.12 Million Position in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 386,726 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $9,115,000. Emerald Advisers LLC owned about 0.68% of First Busey at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,497,004 shares of the bank's stock worth $38,952,000 after buying an additional 6,367 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in First Busey by 1.7% in 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 in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,122,896 shares of the bank's stock worth $26,467,000 after acquiring an additional 58,982 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 707,323 shares of the bank's stock valued at $16,672,000 after purchasing an additional 12,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in First Busey by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 482,287 shares of the bank's stock valued at $12,549,000 after buying an additional 39,900 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $21.70 per share, for a total transaction of $36,890.00. Following the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

First Busey Stock Performance

NASDAQ BUSE traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $22.19. 85,376 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 430,599. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $21.20 and a 52 week high of $28.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 0.84. The business's fifty day moving average price is $23.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.71.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 17.14%. Equities research analysts predict that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost 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 4.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. First Busey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.