Swiss National Bank Buys 53,001 Shares of First Busey Corporation $BUSE

Swiss National Bank raised its stake in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 47.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 164,800 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 53,001 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.29% of First Busey worth $3,560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BUSE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in First Busey by 52.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,706,925 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $101,670,000 after buying an additional 1,613,848 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in First Busey by 121.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 565,001 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,317,000 after buying an additional 309,301 shares in the last quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC bought a new position in First Busey in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,162,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in First Busey by 32.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 937,591 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,252,000 after buying an additional 230,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust bought a new position in First Busey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,850,000. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BUSE shares. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of First Busey from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of First Busey in a research report on Monday, June 30th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Busey presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Karen M. Jensen bought 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $21.70 per share, for a total transaction of $119,350.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 72,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,563,875.60. This represents a 8.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven W. Caple bought 1,175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $21.60 per share, for a total transaction of $25,380.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 4,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,394.40. The trade was a 35.24% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 15,625 shares of company stock worth $344,273. 3.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of BUSE stock opened at $23.23 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a PE ratio of 20.74 and a beta of 0.81. First Busey Corporation has a 12 month low of $18.40 and a 12 month high of $28.30.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $192.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.91 million. First Busey had a net margin of 9.48% and a return on equity of 8.76%. Equities research analysts expect that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. First Busey’s payout ratio is presently 89.29%.

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.