First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Steven W. Caple Acquires 1,175 Shares

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) Director Steven W. Caple acquired 1,175 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $21.60 per share, for a total transaction of $25,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $97,394.40. This trade represents a 35.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

First Busey Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE traded down $0.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $22.18. 605,826 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 366,537. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $21.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.21. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $18.40 and a 12-month high of $28.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a PE ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 0.75.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 17.14%. The firm had revenue of $140.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.15 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. First Busey's payout ratio is 93.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BUSE. Raymond James reduced their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen raised First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Busey has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

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

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.