First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Stock Position Raised by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 20.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 947,406 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 163,042 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 1.67% of First Busey worth $22,937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BUSE. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in First Busey during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Busey by 257.4% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,998 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $115,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in First Busey in the 1st quarter worth approximately $142,000. Finally, EMC Capital Management grew its position in First Busey by 27.3% during the 1st quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 8,606 shares of the bank’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 1,848 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BUSE shares. StockNews.com upgraded First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on First Busey from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.60.

First Busey Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $27.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.87 and a beta of 0.84. First Busey Co. has a 1 year low of $17.51 and a 1 year high of $28.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.24.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $116.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.65 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 17.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Busey Co. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is 48.48%.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

In related news, EVP John Joseph Powers sold 6,090 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total value of $143,358.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 89,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,107,088.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP John Joseph Powers sold 6,090 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $143,358.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,107,088.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Van A. Dukeman sold 16,539 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $389,328.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 386,277 shares in the company, valued at $9,092,960.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 264 shares of company stock worth $5,319 and have sold 22,790 shares worth $536,477. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.