Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $1.35 Million Stake in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its stake in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) by 45.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,054 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 17,778 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.10% of First Busey worth $1,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 7,396 shares of the bank's stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 30,293 shares of the bank's stock valued at $714,000 after buying an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 111,799 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,635,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in First Busey by 161.1% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the bank's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in First Busey by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 84,997 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,003,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BUSE shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $33.00 price target (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $26.00 price target 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 report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Raymond James dropped their target price on First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Busey currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.80.

Insider Activity at First Busey

In other First Busey news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw purchased 1,838 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

First Busey Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $21.86. 24,396 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 358,514. The business's 50-day moving average price is $21.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.30. First Busey Co. has a 12 month low of $18.40 and a 12 month high of $28.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.10 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 EPS for the quarter, beating 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. Analysts predict that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.57%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. 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.