Victory Capital Management Inc. Buys 78,233 Shares of First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) by 24.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 401,046 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 78,233 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.70% of First Busey worth $8,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BUSE. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of First Busey by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,500,343 shares of the bank's stock worth $82,503,000 after acquiring an additional 110,895 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in First Busey by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,122,896 shares of the bank's stock worth $26,467,000 after purchasing an additional 58,982 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in First Busey by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 671,402 shares of the bank's stock valued at $15,825,000 after buying an additional 189,115 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 642,397 shares of the bank's stock valued at $15,141,000 after buying an additional 36,531 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 121.0% in the 4th 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.

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $23.22. 648,725 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 615,084. The company's 50 day moving average price is $23.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.58. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 20.73 and a beta of 0.77. First Busey Corporation has a 52 week low of $18.40 and a 52 week high of $28.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $192.05 million during 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 9.76%. On average, equities analysts expect that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. First Busey's dividend payout ratio is currently 89.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Hovde Group started coverage on shares of First Busey in a research report on Monday, June 30th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of First Busey from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Busey presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.17.

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.