Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 7,379 Shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 17.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 48,929 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 7,379 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of First Busey worth $1,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stifel Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of First Busey during the third quarter valued at approximately $757,000. State Street Corp grew its position in First Busey by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,497,004 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,952,000 after purchasing an additional 6,367 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in First Busey during the 3rd quarter valued at $337,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in First Busey during the third quarter worth $345,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 81.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,069 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,516,000 after buying an additional 60,506 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a report on Monday, February 24th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James cut their target price 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price target (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

In other news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw purchased 1,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $23.75 per share, with a total value of $43,652.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 437,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,390,173.75. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Stock Performance

BUSE stock opened at $19.92 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 10.11 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day moving average of $22.34 and a 200-day moving average of $24.05. First Busey Co. has a 12-month low of $18.40 and a 12-month high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 17.14%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is 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.