First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Shares Bought by Citadel Advisors LLC

Citadel Advisors LLC raised its stake in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) by 96.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 207,956 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 102,029 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.37% of First Busey worth $4,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in First Busey by 1,173.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of First Busey during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 161.1% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the bank's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 822.7% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the bank's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 507.5% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,786 shares of the bank's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,492 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BUSE. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $33.00 price objective (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

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

First Busey Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ BUSE traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $21.61. 420,903 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 359,019. First Busey Co. has a 1-year low of $18.40 and a 1-year high of $28.97. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $21.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a PE ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

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

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.63%. First Busey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.