Michael David Cassens Sells 750 Shares of First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Stock

First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Michael David Cassens sold 750 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.92, for a total value of $17,190.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 141,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,243,890.52. This represents a 0.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

First Busey Stock Up 0.7%

First Busey stock opened at $22.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a PE ratio of 19.57 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. First Busey Corporation has a twelve month low of $18.40 and a twelve month high of $28.30. The company has a 50 day moving average of $23.33 and a 200-day moving average of $23.21.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 20th. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $63.34 million for the quarter. First Busey had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 11.00%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 24th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 24th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.96%.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 56.4% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,251 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in First Busey by 726.1% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,280 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 2,004 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in First Busey by 23.7% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,524 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in shares of First Busey during the 3rd quarter worth about $86,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in First Busey by 103.8% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,322 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 2,711 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BUSE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (down previously from $28.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of First Busey from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.33.

About First Busey

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.