11,866 Shares in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Bought by EntryPoint Capital LLC

EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 11,866 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $280,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stifel Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of First Busey in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $757,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in First Busey by 9.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 482,287 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,549,000 after purchasing an additional 39,900 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in First Busey by 168.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 149,279 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,884,000 after purchasing an additional 93,733 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,295,804 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,723,000 after purchasing an additional 22,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,550 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 15,829 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of BUSE stock opened at $22.39 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $23.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.68. First Busey Co. has a 12 month low of $21.21 and a 12 month high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%. Equities research analysts forecast that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.47%. This is an increase from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 1,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $21.70 per share, with a total value of $36,890.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 482,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,462,503.10. This trade represents a 0.35 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 7.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on BUSE shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price objective (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, First Busey has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.00.

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.