Stanley J. Bradshaw Acquires 1,838 Shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Stock

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Stanley J. Bradshaw acquired 1,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $23.75 per share, for a total transaction of $43,652.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 437,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,390,173.75. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

First Busey Price Performance

First Busey stock opened at $23.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 0.87. First Busey Co. has a 52-week low of $21.59 and a 52-week high of $28.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company’s 50 day moving average is $23.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.23.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%. On average, research analysts expect that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. This is an increase from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.76%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in First Busey by 1,173.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank acquired a new stake in First Busey during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in First Busey during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in First Busey by 161.1% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 822.7% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares during the period. 56.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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