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

First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Michael Cassens sold 1,441 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.45, for a total value of $43,878.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 130,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,958,865.40. This trade represents a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 Monday, August 17th, Michael Cassens sold 1,441 shares of First Busey stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.08, for a total value of $44,786.28.

First Busey Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ BUSE opened at $30.15 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.06. First Busey Corporation has a one year low of $22.00 and a one year high of $31.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.46 and a beta of 0.71. 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 (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $194.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.59 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 21.00%. Research analysts expect that First Busey Corporation will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, July 24th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 24th. First Busey’s payout ratio is presently 42.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BUSE shares. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Busey in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on First Busey from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.00.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of First Busey by 45.5% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 142,447 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,600,000 after acquiring an additional 44,551 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey in the 1st quarter worth about $1,743,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in First Busey by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 475,547 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,017,000 after acquiring an additional 65,745 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in First Busey in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,712,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in First Busey by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,384,661 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,941,000 after purchasing an additional 102,904 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Company Profile

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

The company offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, mortgages, treasury management, cash management and other traditional banking products. Through its wealth management operations, First Busey also provides investment management, trust, retirement planning, financial planning and related advisory services.

First Busey traces its history to 1868 and serves customers primarily across Illinois, as well as selected markets in Indiana, Missouri and Florida.