Insider Selling: First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Sells $43,878.45 in Stock

First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Michael Cassens sold 1,441 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.45, for a total value of $43,878.45. Following the sale, the director directly owned 130,012 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,958,865.40. The trade was a 1.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Michael David Cassens also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 17th, Michael Cassens sold 1,441 shares of First Busey stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.08, for a total value of $44,786.28.

First Busey Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of BUSE stock opened at $30.32 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $30.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.08. First Busey Corporation has a twelve month low of $22.00 and a twelve month high of $31.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.53 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $194.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.59 million. First Busey had a net margin of 21.00% and a return on equity of 10.48%. Research analysts forecast that First Busey Corporation will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, July 24th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 24th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.98%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Busey

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of First Busey by 61.4% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 881 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of First Busey by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,972 shares of the bank’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 571 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in First Busey by 3.7% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 20,335 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in First Busey in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in First Busey by 13.1% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,373 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 971 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BUSE shares. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on First Busey from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Busey in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research lowered First Busey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on First Busey from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

First Busey Company Profile

First Busey Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Champaign, Illinois. Its principal subsidiary, Busey Bank, provides banking services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions through branch locations and digital banking channels.

The company offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, mortgages, treasury management, cash management and other traditional banking products. Through its wealth management operations, First Busey also provides investment management, trust, retirement planning, financial planning and related advisory services.

First Busey traces its history to 1868 and serves customers primarily across Illinois, as well as selected markets in Indiana, Missouri and Florida.