Barclays PLC Grows Stock Holdings in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Barclays PLC grew its holdings in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 156,570 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 21,501 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.28% of First Busey worth $3,691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in First Busey by 1,173.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of First Busey during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in First Busey by 161.1% in the 4th 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 during 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 valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,522 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 4th quarter valued at about $245,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company's stock.

First Busey Trading Up 1.5 %

First Busey stock traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $21.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 511,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 343,045. The stock has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.71 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $21.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. First Busey Co. has a 12 month low of $18.40 and a 12 month high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. First Busey had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The firm had revenue of $140.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $140.15 million. As a group, analysts forecast that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.74%. First Busey's dividend payout ratio is 93.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $33.00 target price (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Busey has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.80.

Insider Activity

In other First Busey news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 1,838 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $23.75 per share, for a total transaction of $43,652.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 437,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,390,173.75. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 7.10% of the company's stock.

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.