Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 35,226 Shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Wellington Management Group LLP trimmed its position in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,723,105 shares of the bank's stock after selling 35,226 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 3.03% of First Busey worth $40,614,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BUSE. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in First Busey by 1,173.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 1,326 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in First Busey during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased 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 worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in First Busey by 822.7% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the bank's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in First Busey by 507.5% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,786 shares of the bank's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 1,492 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BUSE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Raymond James decreased their target price on First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three 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, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.80.

First Busey Price Performance

Shares of BUSE traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $22.29. The stock had a trading volume of 148,363 shares, compared to its average volume of 369,438. 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 $1.99 billion, a PE ratio of 11.31 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. The company's 50-day moving average is $21.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.13.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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. Research analysts expect that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. First Busey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.46%.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

In other news, Director Karen M. Jensen bought 5,500 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $21.70 per share, for a total transaction of $119,350.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 72,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,563,875.60. This represents a 8.26% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven W. Caple bought 1,175 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $21.60 per share, with a total value of $25,380.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now 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 ninety days, insiders acquired 14,375 shares of company stock valued at $313,250. Corporate insiders own 3.85% of the company's stock.

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.