King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 427,434 Shares of First Busey Corporation $BUSE

King Luther Capital Management Corp cut its stake in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 60.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 280,927 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 427,434 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned 0.32% of First Busey worth $6,503,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirabella Financial Services LLP bought a new position in shares of First Busey in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $20,113,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in First Busey by 88.2% during the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 533,142 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,342,000 after buying an additional 249,908 shares during the last quarter. Bayview Asset Management LLC raised its position in First Busey by 173.9% in the second quarter. Bayview Asset Management LLC now owns 64,385 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,473,000 after acquiring an additional 40,876 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new position in shares of First Busey during the 2nd quarter worth $8,343,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of First Busey by 99.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 933,467 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,362,000 after acquiring an additional 464,859 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on BUSE. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of First Busey in a report on Monday, December 29th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective (down from $28.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of First Busey from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.00.

First Busey Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $26.21 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $25.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.32 and a beta of 0.78. First Busey Corporation has a 12-month low of $18.40 and a 12-month high of $27.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.07. First Busey had a return on equity of 9.59% and a net margin of 12.96%.The business had revenue of $201.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.70 million. Equities research analysts forecast that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 23rd were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 23rd. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. This is an increase from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. First Busey’s payout ratio is presently 80.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Mike Maddox acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.52 per share, with a total value of $25,520.00. Following the acquisition, the president directly owned 40,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,027,945.60. This trade represents a 2.55% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,250 shares of company stock valued at $57,165. 3.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

First Busey Profile

First Busey (NASDAQ: BUSE) is a bank holding company headquartered in Champaign, Illinois, with roots tracing back to the founding of Busey Bank in 1868. As a regional financial institution, it offers a broad spectrum of banking services to individuals, small businesses, and corporations. Its core activities include commercial lending, deposit-taking, and cash management, which are tailored to meet the needs of local communities across its operating footprint.

In addition to traditional banking operations, First Busey provides wealth management and trust services through its subsidiary aimed at high-net-worth clients and fiduciary accounts.