Swiss National Bank Grows Holdings in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Swiss National Bank increased its stake in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 111,799 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.20% of First Busey worth $2,635,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of First Busey by 442.2% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 72,438 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 59,077 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in First Busey in the fourth quarter worth about $1,294,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in First Busey by 1,173.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,326 shares during the last quarter. Inceptionr LLC acquired a new stake in First Busey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $315,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in First Busey by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 322,813 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,609,000 after buying an additional 1,413 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw acquired 1,700 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $21.70 per share, with a total value of $36,890.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BUSE opened at $22.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 0.84. First Busey Co. has a 1-year low of $21.21 and a 1-year high of $28.97. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $23.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.68.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.47%. This is a positive change from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. First Busey’s dividend 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.