First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Sells $17,190.00 in Stock

First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Michael David Cassens sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.92, for a total transaction of $17,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 141,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,243,890.52. The trade was a 0.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

First Busey Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BUSE traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.40. The stock had a trading volume of 85,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 506,473. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.46 and a beta of 0.82. 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 1-year low of $18.40 and a 1-year high of $28.30. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.21.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 20th. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $63.34 million during the quarter. First Busey had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 9.56%. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 24th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 24th. First Busey’s payout ratio is currently 86.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Busey

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BUSE. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of First Busey by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,524 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its position in First Busey by 2.7% in the first quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 20,633 shares of the bank’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in First Busey by 4.6% during the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 12,965 shares of the bank’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in First Busey by 5.1% during the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,237 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of First Busey by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 91,585 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of First Busey in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of First Busey from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target (down from $28.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.33.

First Busey Company 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.