First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Purchases $36,890.00 in Stock

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) Director Stanley J. Bradshaw acquired 1,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $21.70 per share, with a total value of $36,890.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 482,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,462,503.10. This trade represents a 0.35 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

First Busey Stock Down 1.2 %

BUSE stock traded down $0.27 on Tuesday, reaching $22.19. 145,668 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 270,476. First Busey Co. has a one year low of $21.21 and a one year high of $28.97. 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 $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.91.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts anticipate that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

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First Busey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from First Busey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.51%. First Busey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BUSE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $33.00 price objective (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price 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, 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $28.00.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 20,427 shares of the bank's stock worth $532,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in shares of First Busey by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 7,396 shares of the bank's stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of First Busey by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 30,293 shares of the bank's stock worth $714,000 after acquiring an additional 985 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of First Busey by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 111,799 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,635,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Busey by 161.1% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the bank's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 56.49% 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.