Private Advisor Group LLC Has $885,000 Stake in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Private Advisor Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 14.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,559 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 6,000 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC owned approximately 0.06% of First Busey worth $885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of First Busey by 1.4% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 87,257 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,113,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Busey during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of First Busey by 257.4% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,998 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 1,439 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in First Busey by 10.0% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,866 shares of the bank’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management raised its position in First Busey by 27.3% in the first quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 8,606 shares of the bank’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 1,848 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BUSE. StockNews.com raised shares of First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a report on Thursday, August 29th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of First Busey from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

In other First Busey news, CEO Van A. Dukeman sold 16,539 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total value of $389,328.06. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,092,960.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other First Busey news, CEO Van A. Dukeman sold 16,539 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total value of $389,328.06. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,092,960.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Joseph Powers sold 6,090 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $143,358.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,511 shares in the company, valued at $2,107,088.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 264 shares of company stock valued at $5,319 and have sold 22,790 shares valued at $536,477. Insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Price Performance

BUSE opened at $26.59 on Tuesday. First Busey Co. has a one year low of $17.51 and a one year high of $28.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.43 and a beta of 0.84.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. First Busey had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 9.10%. The business had revenue of $116.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.65 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that First Busey Co. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. First Busey’s payout ratio is presently 48.48%.

First Busey Company Profile

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.