Geode Capital Management LLC Raises Holdings in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,295,804 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 22,096 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in First Busey were worth $33,723,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in First Busey during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Huntington National Bank bought a new stake in First Busey during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in First Busey in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in First Busey by 257.4% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,998 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey during the third quarter valued at about $171,000. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Busey Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of First Busey stock opened at $24.24 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.49 and a beta of 0.86. First Busey Co. has a 12-month low of $21.68 and a 12-month high of $28.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.04. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $170.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $118.32 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. Analysts predict that First Busey Co. will post 2.07 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.