California State Teachers Retirement System Has $1.33 Million Stock Position in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

California State Teachers Retirement System lessened its position in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,288 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 928 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.12% of First Busey worth $1,328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. New York Life Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in First Busey in the first quarter worth about $471,000. Bailard Inc. boosted its stake in First Busey by 8.2% in the first quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 31,841 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $648,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in First Busey by 294.2% during the 1st quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 76,278 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,552,000 after acquiring an additional 56,929 shares during the period. Vestor Capital LLC raised its position in shares of First Busey by 8,624.9% during the 1st quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 207,216 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,828,000 after acquiring an additional 204,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,481 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 1,550 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 53.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

In related news, Director Michael David Cassens sold 10,036 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.00, for a total transaction of $220,792.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 157,747 shares in the company, valued at $3,470,434. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $21.20 per share, for a total transaction of $42,400.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 62,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,314,400. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael David Cassens sold 10,036 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.00, for a total value of $220,792.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 157,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,470,434. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders acquired 23,850 shares of company stock valued at $504,856 in the last ninety days. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BUSE shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 26th. Raymond James raised their price objective on First Busey from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st.

First Busey Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of BUSE stock opened at $20.20 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.32 and a beta of 0.87. First Busey Co. has a 12-month low of $16.26 and a 12-month high of $27.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $20.93 and a 200-day moving average of $20.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $106.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.96 million. First Busey had a net margin of 24.80% and a return on equity of 11.94%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that First Busey Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 21st were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 20th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.67%.

First Busey Profile

First Busey Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Busey Bank that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individual, corporate, institutional, and governmental customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Banking, FirsTech, and Wealth Management.