First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Karen M. Jensen Acquires 4,000 Shares

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) Director Karen M. Jensen acquired 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $22.00 per share, with a total value of $88,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 76,068 shares in the company, valued at $1,673,496. This represents a 5.55% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

First Busey Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of First Busey stock traded up $0.50 on Friday, hitting $22.73. 444,110 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 373,887. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.54 and a beta of 0.78. The firm's 50-day moving average is $21.19 and its 200 day moving average is $23.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. First Busey Co. has a 52-week low of $18.40 and a 52-week high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.40%. First Busey's payout ratio is currently 93.46%.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BUSE. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 1,173.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in First Busey in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of First Busey by 161.1% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the bank's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 822.7% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 507.5% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,786 shares of the bank's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 1,492 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BUSE shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.80.

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.