Fmr LLC Acquires 93,733 Shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Fmr LLC lifted its holdings in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 168.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 149,279 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 93,733 shares during the period. Fmr LLC owned 0.26% of First Busey worth $3,884,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in First Busey during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Huntington National Bank bought a new position in First Busey during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new position in First Busey during the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in First Busey by 257.4% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,998 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in First Busey during the second quarter valued at about $216,000. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens downgraded First Busey from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th.

First Busey Price Performance

BUSE opened at $26.23 on Friday. 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 $21.68 and a 12 month high of $28.97. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.52 and a beta of 0.86.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $170.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.32 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that First Busey Co. will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is 49.48%.

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.