34,515 Shares in First Busey Corporation $BUSE Bought by GSA Capital Partners LLP

GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 34,515 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $821,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of First Busey by 94.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,135,906 shares of the bank’s stock worth $165,196,000 after acquiring an additional 3,464,965 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of First Busey by 0.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,078,833 shares of the bank’s stock worth $117,575,000 after acquiring an additional 33,430 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of First Busey by 36,664.6% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,131,973 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,510,000 after acquiring an additional 3,123,454 shares during the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP boosted its position in shares of First Busey by 23.2% during the third quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP now owns 1,082,338 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,056,000 after acquiring an additional 203,464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Busey by 4.1% during the third quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 600,590 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,904,000 after acquiring an additional 23,540 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BUSE has been the subject of a number of research reports. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of First Busey from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of First Busey from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First Busey from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.50.

First Busey Price Performance

First Busey stock opened at $27.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.04 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $25.92 and its 200 day moving average is $25.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. First Busey Corporation has a 52-week low of $21.41 and a 52-week high of $27.65.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $197.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.15 million. First Busey had a net margin of 19.16% and a return on equity of 10.19%. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Busey Corporation will post 2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 24th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 24th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.22%.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

In other First Busey news, CAO Scott A. Phillips purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $25.90 per share, with a total value of $129,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,350 shares in the company, valued at $216,265. This trade represents a 149.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.