Insider Buying: First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Buys 1,000 Shares of Stock

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $21.63 per share, with a total value of $21,630.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 489,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,593,703.47. This represents a 0.20% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

First Busey Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BUSE traded down $0.07 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $22.20. The company had a trading volume of 241,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 359,217. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a PE ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. First Busey Co. has a twelve month low of $18.40 and a twelve month high of $28.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $21.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.29.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $140.15 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 17.14%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th were issued 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 4.50%. First Busey's dividend payout ratio is currently 93.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC boosted its position in First Busey by 81.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,069 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,516,000 after purchasing an additional 60,506 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in shares of First Busey by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 16,983 shares of the bank's stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in First Busey during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 201,745 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,755,000 after buying an additional 9,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 84,997 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,003,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares during the period. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on BUSE. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James dropped their target price 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. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.