Insider Selling: First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Sells $41,961.92 in Stock

Key Points

• First Busey director Michael Cassens sold 1,441 shares for approximately $41,962 at an average price of $29.12 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. He retained 128,571 shares following the transaction.
• BUSE shares rose 0.5% to $29.41, while the company reported quarterly EPS of $0.69, beating analyst estimates of $0.63. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $31.00 price target.
• First Busey declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, equivalent to an annualized $1.04 dividend and a 3.5% yield.

First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) Director Michael Cassens sold 1,441 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.12, for a total transaction of $41,961.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 128,571 shares in the company, valued at $3,743,987.52. The trade was a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Tuesday, September 15th, Michael Cassens sold 1,441 shares of First Busey stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.45, for a total value of $43,878.45.
• 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 Up 0.5%

BUSE traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $29.41. The company had a trading volume of 295,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 708,921. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $30.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15 and a beta of 0.75. First Busey Corporation has a 12-month low of $22.12 and a 12-month high of $31.70.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The bank reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $194.27 million during 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 research analysts anticipate that First Busey Corporation will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 23rd will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 23rd. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. First Busey's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.98%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in First Busey by 61.4% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 881 shares of the bank's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,972 shares of the bank's stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 571 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Busey by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 20,335 shares of the bank's stock worth $514,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of First Busey by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,373 shares of the bank's stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 971 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BUSE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research cut First Busey from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of First Busey in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Busey has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.00.

First Busey Company Profile

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

Busey Bank offers consumer and commercial deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate lending, business loans, treasury management, trust services and other financial solutions. Through Busey Wealth Management, the company also provides investment management, financial planning, private banking and fiduciary services.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.