Insider Buying: First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) CEO Purchases 748 Shares of Stock

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) CEO Van A. Dukeman bought 748 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.44 per share, with a total value of $15,289.12. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,099 shares in the company, valued at $267,743.56. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

First Busey Price Performance

Shares of BUSE traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $22.34. 204,873 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 162,617. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.73. First Busey Co. has a 12 month low of $16.26 and a 12 month high of $25.80.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.30%. First Busey’s payout ratio is 48.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BUSE shares. StockNews.com raised First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.75.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BUSE. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in First Busey by 1,143.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,057 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in First Busey in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $218,000. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC purchased a new position in First Busey in the 4th quarter worth approximately $238,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in First Busey in the 4th quarter worth approximately $249,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in First Busey by 40.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,819 shares of the bank’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 4,566 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 56.49% 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.