LSV Asset Management Sells 38,700 Shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

LSV Asset Management decreased its holdings in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,215,457 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 38,700 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in First Busey were worth $28,648,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BUSE. Stifel Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of First Busey during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $757,000. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 111,799 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,635,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of First Busey by 9.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 482,287 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,549,000 after purchasing an additional 39,900 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 168.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 149,279 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,884,000 after buying an additional 93,733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in First Busey by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,295,804 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,723,000 after buying an additional 22,096 shares during the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BUSE has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a report on Monday, February 24th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.80.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

In related news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw purchased 1,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $21.70 per share, with a total value of $36,890.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 482,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,462,503.10. This trade represents a 0.35 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 7.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

First Busey Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ BUSE opened at $19.43 on Friday. First Busey Co. has a 52 week low of $18.40 and a 52 week high of $28.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $22.56 and its 200 day moving average is $24.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.86 and a beta of 0.75.

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

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.15%. First Busey’s payout ratio is 50.76%.

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.