First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Insider Amy L. Randolph Acquires 595 Shares

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) insider Amy L. Randolph bought 595 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.44 per share, for a total transaction of $12,161.80. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 4,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $96,599.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

First Busey Stock Performance

BUSE opened at $22.89 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.76. First Busey Co. has a 52-week low of $16.26 and a 52-week high of $25.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56 and a beta of 0.85.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 18th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.48%.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of First Busey by 40.1% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 34,069 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $819,000 after acquiring an additional 9,755 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in First Busey by 35.3% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 39,888 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 10,401 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in First Busey by 30.3% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 99,397 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,390,000 after purchasing an additional 23,142 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC increased its position in First Busey by 3,072.7% during the first quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 34,900 shares of the bank’s stock worth $839,000 after buying an additional 33,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in First Busey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $249,000. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BUSE shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.75.

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.