First Busey Corporation $BUSE Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its position in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 46.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 86,357 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 76,285 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in First Busey were worth $1,976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in First Busey by 59.3% in the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 2,881 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in First Busey in the 1st quarter valued at about $263,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First Busey during the first quarter worth about $372,000. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First Busey during the first quarter worth about $1,081,000. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First Busey during the first quarter worth about $675,000. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of BUSE opened at $22.51 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $23.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.57 and a beta of 0.77. First Busey Corporation has a 52-week low of $18.40 and a 52-week high of $28.30.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 20th. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $63.34 million during the quarter. First Busey had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 11.00%. Research analysts predict that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 24th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 24th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is 89.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BUSE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective (down from $28.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on First Busey from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of First Busey in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Busey news, CFO Scott A. Phillips purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.25 per share, with a total value of $25,250.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,250. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $24.60 per share, with a total value of $73,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 86,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,135,230.80. This represents a 3.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.85% of the company’s stock.

First Busey 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.