First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Sells $43,878.45 in Stock

Key Points

• Director Michael Cassens sold 1,441 First Busey shares for $43,878.45 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, reducing his ownership by 1.1% to 130,012 shares.
• First Busey shares fell 1.0% to $30.24, while the company reported quarterly EPS of $0.69, exceeding estimates of $0.63. The bank also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.26, yielding approximately 3.4% annually.
• Analysts hold a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $32.00; institutional investors own 56.49% of the stock.

First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) Director Michael Cassens sold 1,441 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.45, for a total value of $43,878.45. Following the sale, the director owned 130,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,958,865.40. This trade represents a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Michael David Cassens also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 17th, Michael Cassens sold 1,441 shares of First Busey stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.08, for a total value of $44,786.28.

First Busey Trading Down 1.0%

NASDAQ BUSE traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $30.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 959,644 shares, compared to its average volume of 692,622. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.00. The stock has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.50 and a beta of 0.71. First Busey Corporation has a 52 week low of $22.00 and a 52 week high of $31.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $194.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.59 million. First Busey had a net margin of 21.00% and a return on equity of 10.48%. Equities analysts forecast that First Busey Corporation will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, July 24th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 24th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. First Busey's payout ratio is currently 42.98%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in First Busey by 161.2% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 31,556 shares of the bank's stock valued at $931,000 after buying an additional 19,473 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in First Busey during the second quarter valued at $242,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new stake in First Busey during the 2nd quarter worth about $503,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in First Busey during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of First Busey by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 30,764 shares of the bank's stock worth $908,000 after acquiring an additional 994 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Piper Sandler upped their price target on First Busey from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research cut First Busey from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. DA Davidson raised their price objective on First Busey from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, First Busey has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $32.00.

First Busey Company Profile

First Busey Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Champaign, Illinois. Its principal subsidiary, Busey Bank, provides banking services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions through branch locations and digital banking channels.

The company offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, mortgages, treasury management, cash management and other traditional banking products. Through its wealth management operations, First Busey also provides investment management, trust, retirement planning, financial planning and related advisory services.

First Busey traces its history to 1868 and serves customers primarily across Illinois, as well as selected markets in Indiana, Missouri and Florida.

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