First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Shares Gap Down to $23.27

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $23.27, but opened at $21.94. First Busey shares last traded at $22.93, with a volume of 36,003 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on BUSE shares. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered First Busey from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.75.

First Busey Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.61.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. First Busey had a return on equity of 10.38% and a net margin of 20.37%. The business had revenue of $108.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.74 million. As a group, research analysts predict that First Busey Co. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael David Cassens sold 2,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.36, for a total value of $51,428.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 139,804 shares in the company, valued at $3,126,017.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Michael David Cassens sold 2,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.36, for a total value of $51,428.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 139,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,126,017.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 2,000 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $22.98 per share, with a total value of $45,960.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 47,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,093,503.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 4,917 shares of company stock worth $117,215 and sold 6,900 shares worth $157,182. Insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BUSE. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in First Busey in the third quarter valued at about $369,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in First Busey by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 32,280 shares of the bank’s stock worth $620,000 after buying an additional 1,279 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in First Busey by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 385,328 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,406,000 after buying an additional 5,025 shares during the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in First Busey during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $218,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in First Busey by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,819 shares of the bank’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 4,566 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.