Insider Selling: First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) EVP Sells $143,358.60 in Stock

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) EVP John Joseph Powers sold 6,090 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total value of $143,358.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 89,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,107,088.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

John Joseph Powers also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, May 1st, John Joseph Powers bought 12 shares of First Busey stock. The stock was bought at an average price of $22.85 per share, with a total value of $274.20.

First Busey Price Performance

BUSE opened at $25.37 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $23.12 and a 200-day moving average of $23.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 0.86. First Busey Co. has a 12-month low of $17.51 and a 12-month high of $25.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $110.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.06 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 9.37% and a net margin of 18.08%. Equities analysts forecast that First Busey Co. will post 2.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 19th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BUSE shares. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 1,143.5% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,057 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 972 shares during the period. EMC Capital Management raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 27.3% in the first quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 8,606 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 1,848 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 4.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 48,247 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,079 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 24,314 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 14.7% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 17,013 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 2,180 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

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.