Barclays PLC Purchases 60,506 Shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Barclays PLC raised its holdings in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 81.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 135,069 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 60,506 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in First Busey were worth $3,516,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of First Busey in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Huntington National Bank bought a new position in First Busey during the third quarter worth about $38,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of First Busey during the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 257.4% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $171,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of BUSE opened at $24.14 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $25.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.54. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $21.68 and a twelve month high of $28.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.44 and a beta of 0.86.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. First Busey had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The firm had revenue of $170.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $118.32 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that First Busey Co. will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BUSE shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Stephens downgraded First Busey from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

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.