Northern Trust Corp Acquires 36,531 Shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 642,397 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 36,531 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.13% of First Busey worth $15,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. Barclays PLC boosted its position in First Busey by 81.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,069 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,516,000 after buying an additional 60,506 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in First Busey by 61.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,550 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,035,000 after buying an additional 15,829 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in First Busey by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 16,983 shares of the bank's stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 1,094 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in First Busey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 201,745 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,755,000 after acquiring an additional 9,811 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at First Busey

In other First Busey news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw acquired 1,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $21.70 per share, with a total value of $36,890.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 482,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,462,503.10. This trade represents a 0.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 7.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

First Busey Stock Down 0.8%

First Busey stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.33. 23,198 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 353,216. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34 and a beta of 0.75. 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. The business's 50-day moving average price is $21.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.43.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $140.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.15 million. First Busey had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%. On average, research analysts expect that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.48%. First Busey's dividend payout ratio is 93.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of First Busey from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.80.

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.