Squarepoint Ops LLC Buys New Position in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 30,599 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $721,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned 0.05% of First Busey at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in First Busey by 65.4% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 114,808 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,706,000 after buying an additional 45,400 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in First Busey by 46.5% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 193,473 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,560,000 after acquiring an additional 61,400 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of First Busey by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 57,054 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,345,000 after acquiring an additional 17,778 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 300,549 shares of the bank's stock valued at $7,084,000 after acquiring an additional 22,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 391,478 shares of the bank's stock valued at $9,227,000 after acquiring an additional 45,257 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BUSE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James dropped their price objective on First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Busey currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.80.

First Busey Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ BUSE traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $22.73. 444,110 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 374,948. The company has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.54 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $21.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. First Busey Co. has a one year low of $18.40 and a one year high of $28.97.

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

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. First Busey's payout ratio is currently 93.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

In other news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 1,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $21.70 per share, with a total value of $36,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 482,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,462,503.10. The trade was a 0.35% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 now owns 76,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,673,496. This represents a 5.55% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 14,825 shares of company stock worth $323,038 over the last quarter. 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.