First Busey Corporation $BUSE Shares Purchased by Deutsche Bank AG

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in First Busey Corporation by 52.9% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 24,307 shares, bringing its total ownership to 70,283 shares valued at approximately $1,518,000.
• Several other institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Dimensional Fund Advisors, also increased their positions in First Busey, with a combined 56.49% of the stock now held by hedge funds and institutional investors.
• First Busey recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 4.1%, and reported earnings of $0.63 per share, exceeding analyst expectations.

Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) by 52.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 70,283 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 24,307 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned approximately 0.12% of First Busey worth $1,518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 32.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 937,591 shares of the bank's stock worth $20,252,000 after buying an additional 230,268 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 52.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,706,925 shares of the bank's stock worth $101,670,000 after buying an additional 1,613,848 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 56.4% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,251 shares of the bank's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 812 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 7.7% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,309,057 shares of the bank's stock worth $28,276,000 after buying an additional 93,600 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 32.8% during the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 16,802 shares of the bank's stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 4,154 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BUSE. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of First Busey in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of First Busey from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of First Busey from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Busey currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.17.

Insider Activity at First Busey

In other First Busey news, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $23.25 per share, for a total transaction of $58,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 83,568 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,942,956. This trade represents a 3.08% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Scott A. Phillips purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.25 per share, for a total transaction of $25,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,250. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 8,950 shares of company stock worth $203,163 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.85% of the company's stock.

First Busey Price Performance

First Busey stock traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $24.44. The company had a trading volume of 564,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 523,297. First Busey Corporation has a 1 year low of $18.40 and a 1 year high of $28.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.82 and a beta of 0.81. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $23.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.50.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $192.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.91 million. First Busey had a net margin of 9.48% and a return on equity of 8.76%. On average, equities analysts predict that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. First Busey's dividend payout ratio is currently 89.29%.

About First Busey

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.