First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Michael David Cassens Sells 1,441 Shares of Company Stock

First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Michael Cassens sold 1,441 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.12, for a total transaction of $41,961.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 128,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,743,987.52. This represents a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Michael David Cassens also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, September 15th, Michael Cassens sold 1,441 shares of First Busey stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.45, for a total transaction of $43,878.45.
• On Monday, August 17th, Michael Cassens sold 1,441 shares of First Busey stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.08, for a total value of $44,786.28.

First Busey Price Performance

Shares of BUSE stock traded up $0.15 on Friday, hitting $29.41. 295,641 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 708,921. The company has a 50 day moving average of $30.11 and a 200 day moving average of $28.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.15 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. First Busey Corporation has a 12 month low of $22.12 and a 12 month high of $31.70.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The bank reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.06. First Busey had a net margin of 21.00% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The firm had revenue of $194.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.59 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that First Busey Corporation will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 23rd. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. First Busey’s payout ratio is currently 42.98%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in First Busey by 37.1% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 129,483 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,772,000 after buying an additional 35,019 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of First Busey by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 44,024 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,282,000 after acquiring an additional 2,335 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 161.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 31,556 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $931,000 after purchasing an additional 19,473 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in shares of First Busey in the 2nd quarter valued at about $242,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 2nd quarter valued at about $503,000. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BUSE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. DA Davidson upped their price objective on First Busey from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research lowered shares of First Busey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded shares of First Busey from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.00.

First Busey Company Profile

First Busey Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Champaign, Illinois. Its principal subsidiary, Busey Bank, provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses, institutions and municipalities.

Busey Bank offers consumer and commercial deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate lending, business loans, treasury management, trust services and other financial solutions. Through Busey Wealth Management, the company also provides investment management, financial planning, private banking and fiduciary services.