First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Shares Acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) by 39.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 671,402 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 189,115 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 1.18% of First Busey worth $15,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in First Busey by 1,173.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,326 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of First Busey during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in First Busey during the fourth quarter valued at $245,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of First Busey during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $280,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of First Busey in the third quarter worth approximately $337,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on BUSE shares. 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. 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. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $33.00 price objective (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment 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 currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw acquired 1,700 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $21.70 per share, for a total transaction 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 represents a 0.35 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

First Busey Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ BUSE traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $19.87. 83,837 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 502,377. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $22.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.02. First Busey Co. has a 52 week low of $18.40 and a 52 week 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. The company has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 0.75.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.03%. First Busey's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.76%.

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.