Van A. Dukeman Buys 748 Shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Stock

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) CEO Van A. Dukeman bought 748 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $20.44 per share, for a total transaction of $15,289.12. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 13,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $267,743.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

First Busey Trading Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ BUSE opened at $22.89 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $23.01 and a 200-day moving average of $22.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. First Busey Co. has a 12 month low of $16.26 and a 12 month high of $25.80. The company has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.56 and a beta of 0.85.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.75.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in First Busey by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,278,444 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $81,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,224 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,886,341 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $55,475,000 after purchasing an additional 26,829 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of First Busey by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,552,667 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,537,000 after purchasing an additional 57,392 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC increased its position in First Busey by 742.9% during the 3rd quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 1,320,225 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,375,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in First Busey by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 636,619 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,801,000 after buying an additional 31,442 shares during the period. 56.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.