First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) Shares Purchased by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its holdings in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) by 106.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,506 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 11,106 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in First Busey were worth $465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in First Busey by 161.1% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew 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 during the period. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 507.5% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,786 shares of the bank's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,492 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Busey during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,524 shares of the bank's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the period. 56.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on BUSE shares. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Hovde Group started coverage on First Busey in a research note on Monday, June 30th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Busey has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $27.17.

First Busey Price Performance

Shares of BUSE stock traded down $0.19 on Friday, reaching $22.13. 702,635 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 517,426. 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 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $23.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.59. The company has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.76 and a beta of 0.81.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02. First Busey had a return on equity of 9.76% and a net margin of 9.48%. The company had revenue of $192.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $193.91 million. Equities research analysts forecast that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. First Busey's payout ratio is presently 89.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

In other news, Director Karen M. Jensen acquired 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $21.70 per share, for a total transaction of $119,350.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 72,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,563,875.60. This trade represents a 8.26% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven W. Caple bought 1,175 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $21.60 per share, with a total value of $25,380.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 4,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $97,394.40. This represents a 35.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 15,625 shares of company stock valued at $344,273. 3.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

First Busey Company 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.