American Century Companies Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in First Busey Corporation $BUSE

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its position in shares of First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,435,346 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 296,020 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 1.61% of First Busey worth $32,848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its position in First Busey by 2.7% during the first quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 20,633 shares of the bank’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 12,965 shares of the bank’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of First Busey by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 69,002 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,579,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in First Busey by 56.4% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,251 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in First Busey by 34.3% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,389 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 865 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 analysts have weighed in on BUSE shares. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target (down previously from $28.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of First Busey in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.33.

First Busey Price Performance

BUSE opened at $23.55 on Friday. First Busey Corporation has a 1 year low of $18.40 and a 1 year high of $27.29. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 20.47 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 20th. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter. First Busey had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 9.56%. The company had revenue of $63.34 million for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 24th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 24th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.96%.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

In other news, CAO Scott A. Phillips purchased 1,350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.64 per share, with a total value of $34,614.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,254. The trade was a 135.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $24.60 per share, for a total transaction of $73,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 86,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,135,230.80. This trade represents a 3.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.