Janus Henderson Group PLC Sells 880,670 Shares of First Busey Corporation $BUSE

Janus Henderson Group PLC lessened its holdings in shares of First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 87.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 131,739 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 880,670 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in First Busey were worth $3,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of First Busey by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,746,996 shares of the bank’s stock worth $184,301,000 after acquiring an additional 611,090 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in First Busey by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,067,210 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $128,046,000 after acquiring an additional 194,343 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in First Busey by 36,664.6% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,131,973 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $74,510,000 after purchasing an additional 3,123,454 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in First Busey by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,384,661 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,941,000 after purchasing an additional 102,904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in First Busey by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,314,576 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,274,000 after purchasing an additional 145,681 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BUSE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded First Busey from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on First Busey from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of First Busey from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.00.

First Busey Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $30.98 on Friday. First Busey Corporation has a 52 week low of $22.00 and a 52 week high of $31.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 0.72.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $194.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.59 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 21.00%. On average, equities analysts expect that First Busey Corporation will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 24th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 24th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. First Busey’s payout ratio is currently 42.98%.

First Busey Company 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.