13,374 Shares in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Acquired by Inceptionr LLC

Inceptionr LLC bought a new position in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 13,374 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $315,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Huntington National Bank acquired a new position in First Busey during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in First Busey during the 3rd quarter worth $171,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in First Busey during the third quarter valued at about $224,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey in the third quarter valued at about $330,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Trading Down 0.2 %

First Busey stock opened at $22.55 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. First Busey Co. has a 12 month low of $21.59 and a 12 month high of $28.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.45 and a beta of 0.84.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 17.14%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.43%. This is an increase from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BUSE shares. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a report on Monday, February 24th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 target price (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

Insider Activity

In other First Busey news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw purchased 1,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $23.75 per share, for a total transaction of $43,652.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 437,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,390,173.75. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 7.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

First Busey Company Profile

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.