Wellington Management Group LLP Raises Position in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,552,667 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 57,392 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in First Busey were worth $38,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BUSE. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of First Busey by 1,143.5% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,057 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 972 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in First Busey during the fourth quarter valued at about $238,000. Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its position in First Busey by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,819 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 2,502 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in First Busey by 18.9% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 23,118 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 3,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in First Busey by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 24,314 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $22.48 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $22.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.37. First Busey Co. has a 12-month low of $17.51 and a 12-month high of $25.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.35 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.02). First Busey had a net margin of 18.08% and a return on equity of 9.37%. The company had revenue of $110.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.06 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that First Busey Co. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.27%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on BUSE. StockNews.com upgraded First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Busey currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael David Cassens sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.81, for a total transaction of $54,763.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 137,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,278,517.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 2,348 shares of company stock valued at $47,993. 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.