8,967 Shares in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Bought by Graham Capital Management L.P.

Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 8,967 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in First Busey by 1,173.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in First Busey during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in First Busey by 161.1% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in First Busey by 822.7% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP raised its position in First Busey by 507.5% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,786 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 1,492 shares during the period. 56.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Busey Price Performance

First Busey stock opened at $22.48 on Monday. First Busey Co. has a 12-month low of $18.40 and a 12-month high of $28.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.41 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $21.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.44. 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. First Busey had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The firm had revenue of $140.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.15 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on BUSE. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of First Busey from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.