Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Grows Stock Position in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 397.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,660 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,515 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in First Busey were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of First Busey by 22.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,159,907 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,895,000 after buying an additional 212,782 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in First Busey by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 947,406 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $22,937,000 after acquiring an additional 163,042 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in First Busey by 28.9% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 386,231 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,351,000 after purchasing an additional 86,492 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,359,080 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,686,000 after purchasing an additional 72,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of First Busey by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,552,667 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,537,000 after purchasing an additional 57,392 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Busey Stock Performance

NASDAQ BUSE opened at $24.65 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.46. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 0.84. First Busey Co. has a twelve month low of $17.51 and a twelve month high of $28.97.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BUSE shares. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. 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 research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of First Busey from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Busey has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.60.

First Busey Profile

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.