First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Shares Sold by Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership trimmed its position in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 452,934 shares of the bank's stock after selling 91,858 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.80% of First Busey worth $10,676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in First Busey by 1,173.5% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in First Busey during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in First Busey during the 3rd quarter valued at $171,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in First Busey during the 4th quarter valued at $245,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in First Busey during the 4th quarter valued at $280,000. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Busey Trading Down 3.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE traded down $0.73 during trading on Thursday, reaching $19.74. 63,220 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 315,694. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 10.02 and a beta of 0.75. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $22.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.22. First Busey Co. has a 12-month low of $18.40 and a 12-month high of $28.97. 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 (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from First Busey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.07%. First Busey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.76%.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

In other First Busey news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw acquired 1,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $21.70 per share, for a total transaction of $36,890.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 482,143 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 7.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BUSE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $33.00 target price (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler dropped 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. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Raymond James lowered 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.80.

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.