First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Upgraded to Hold by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday.

Separately, Stephens reissued an overweight rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, First Busey currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $25.75.

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of BUSE opened at $23.72 on Tuesday. First Busey has a 12 month low of $16.26 and a 12 month high of $25.80. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.98 and a beta of 0.85.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 18th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

In other First Busey news, Director Karen M. Jensen acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $22.98 per share, with a total value of $45,960.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 47,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,093,503.30. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Karen M. Jensen bought 2,000 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $22.98 per share, with a total value of $45,960.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 47,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,093,503.30. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael David Cassens sold 2,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.02, for a total value of $52,946.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 141,278 shares in the company, valued at $3,252,219.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 4,348 shares of company stock valued at $93,953 and sold 6,900 shares valued at $157,182. Insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BUSE. Plancorp LLC increased its position in shares of First Busey by 742.9% during the third quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 1,320,225 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,375,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,596 shares in the last quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Busey during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $11,053,000. Cozad Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of First Busey by 565.7% during the 4th quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 402,097 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,980,000 after purchasing an additional 341,692 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in First Busey by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 523,703 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,066,000 after purchasing an additional 66,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in First Busey by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,552,667 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,537,000 after acquiring an additional 57,392 shares during the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.