Millstone Evans Group LLC Takes $288,000 Position in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 13,350 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $288,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BUSE. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in First Busey by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,500,343 shares of the bank's stock worth $82,503,000 after buying an additional 110,895 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in First Busey by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,122,896 shares of the bank's stock worth $26,467,000 after buying an additional 58,982 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in First Busey by 39.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 671,402 shares of the bank's stock worth $15,825,000 after buying an additional 189,115 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in First Busey by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 642,397 shares of the bank's stock worth $15,141,000 after buying an additional 36,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in First Busey by 121.0% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 565,001 shares of the bank's stock worth $13,317,000 after buying an additional 309,301 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

In other First Busey news, Director Steven W. Caple bought 1,175 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $21.60 per share, for a total transaction of $25,380.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 4,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $97,394.40. This trade represents a 35.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $22.00 per share, with a total value of $88,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 76,068 shares in the company, valued at $1,673,496. The trade was a 5.55% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 13,125 shares of company stock valued at $286,148 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.85% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BUSE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Hovde Group initiated coverage on First Busey in a research report on Monday, June 30th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.17.

First Busey Price Performance

NASDAQ:BUSE traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $23.44. 217,582 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 528,277. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.92 and a beta of 0.77. First Busey Corporation has a 1-year low of $18.40 and a 1-year high of $28.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business has a 50 day moving average of $23.05 and a 200 day moving average of $22.58.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $192.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.91 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 9.76% and a net margin of 9.48%. Research analysts forecast that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. First Busey's payout ratio is presently 93.46%.

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.