First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Shares Sold by Jane Street Group LLC

Jane Street Group LLC cut its position in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) by 80.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,820 shares of the bank's stock after selling 40,644 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC's holdings in First Busey were worth $231,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BUSE. Emerald Advisers LLC purchased a new position in First Busey in the fourth quarter valued at $9,115,000. Peregrine Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in First Busey in the fourth quarter valued at $5,498,000. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust purchased a new position in First Busey in the fourth quarter valued at $4,850,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in First Busey by 39.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 671,402 shares of the bank's stock valued at $15,825,000 after purchasing an additional 189,115 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in First Busey by 1,181.6% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 170,340 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,015,000 after purchasing an additional 157,049 shares during the period. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BUSE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. 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. 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. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price target 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $27.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $22.00 per share, for a total transaction of $88,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 76,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,673,496. The trade was a 5.55% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Steven W. Caple purchased 1,175 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $21.60 per share, for a total transaction of $25,380.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,509 shares in the company, valued at $97,394.40. This trade represents a 35.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders bought 14,825 shares of company stock valued at $323,038. Insiders own 3.85% of the company's stock.

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of First Busey stock traded up $0.50 on Friday, hitting $22.73. The stock had a trading volume of 444,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 374,966. First Busey Co. has a 52-week low of $18.40 and a 52-week high of $28.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.54 and a beta of 0.78. The company's 50 day moving average price is $21.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.02.

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, 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.15 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. First Busey's payout ratio is currently 93.46%.

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.