Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $745,000 Holdings in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC trimmed its holdings in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 17.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,603 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 6,532 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned 0.06% of First Busey worth $745,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in First Busey by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 20,427 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $532,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of First Busey by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 111,799 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,635,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 84,997 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,003,000 after buying an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in First Busey by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 16,983 shares of the bank’s stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 1,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in First Busey by 1.1% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 121,310 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,156,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

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

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $21.72 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. First Busey Co. has a 1-year low of $21.13 and a 1-year high of $28.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.03 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $23.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.55.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%. Equities analysts predict that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.60%. This is an increase from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is 50.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BUSE has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens reissued 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 target on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price objective (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.80.

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.