Dark Forest Capital Management LP Takes Position in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 36,639 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $864,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP owned about 0.06% of First Busey at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of First Busey by 1,173.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in First Busey during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in First Busey by 161.1% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the bank's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 822.7% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the bank's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,522 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in shares of First Busey by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 7,396 shares of the bank's stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of First Busey from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price target on First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $27.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

In related news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw acquired 1,838 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $23.75 per share, for a total transaction of $43,652.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 437,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,390,173.75. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

First Busey Price Performance

BUSE traded up $0.07 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $21.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 105,790 shares, compared to its average volume of 338,458. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65 and a beta of 0.75. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $21.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.76. First Busey Co. has a twelve month low of $18.40 and a twelve month high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 17.14%. The business had revenue of $140.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $140.15 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. First Busey's payout ratio is currently 93.46%.

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.