CX Institutional Buys Shares of 11,892 First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

CX Institutional bought a new stake in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 11,892 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BUSE. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 1,173.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 161.1% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 822.7% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 507.5% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,786 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 1,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 3,182.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,990 shares of the bank’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 4,838 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Stock Down 2.2%

NASDAQ BUSE opened at $22.30 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $21.50 and a 200-day moving average of $22.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 0.78. First Busey Co. has a 52 week low of $18.40 and a 52 week high of $28.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 17.14%. The company had revenue of $140.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.15 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.48%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BUSE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James cut their price objective on First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Busey has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Steven W. Caple bought 1,175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $21.60 per share, with a total value of $25,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,509 shares in the company, valued at $97,394.40. The trade was a 35.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $22.00 per share, for a total transaction of $88,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 76,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,673,496. The trade was a 5.55% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 13,125 shares of company stock worth $286,148. Corporate insiders own 3.85% of the company’s stock.

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.