Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its position in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,093,077 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,885 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 5.44% of First Busey worth $72,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in First Busey by 1,173.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of First Busey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of First Busey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $245,000. Inceptionr LLC bought a new position in shares of First Busey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $315,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey in the third quarter worth approximately $337,000. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Stock Down 4.4 %

Shares of First Busey stock opened at $19.56 on Friday. First Busey Co. has a 1 year low of $18.40 and a 1 year 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 stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $22.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.17.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, research analysts expect that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.11%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.76%.

Insider Activity at First Busey

In other news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 1,700 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $21.70 per share, for a total transaction of $36,890.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 482,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,462,503.10. This trade represents a 0.35 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 7.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on BUSE shares. Raymond James cut their price objective on First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 target price (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.80.

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.