First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Michael David Cassens Sells 2,300 Shares of Stock

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Michael David Cassens sold 2,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.36, for a total value of $51,428.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 139,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,126,017.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Michael David Cassens also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 15th, Michael David Cassens sold 2,300 shares of First Busey stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.96, for a total transaction of $52,808.00.
• On Thursday, February 15th, Michael David Cassens sold 2,300 shares of First Busey stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.02, for a total transaction of $52,946.00.

First Busey Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of BUSE stock opened at $21.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $23.09 and a 200-day moving average of $22.51. First Busey Co. has a 52-week low of $16.26 and a 52-week high of $25.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 0.85.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $108.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.74 million. First Busey had a net margin of 20.37% and a return on equity of 10.38%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that First Busey Co. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is 44.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 1,143.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,057 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in First Busey by 237.9% during the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,409 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 992 shares during the last quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in First Busey in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of First Busey in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Busey presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.50.

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.