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

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) CEO Van A. Dukeman bought 748 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.44 per share, for a total transaction of $15,289.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,099 shares in the company, valued at $267,743.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

First Busey Stock Performance

BUSE opened at $22.34 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $23.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.76. First Busey Co. has a 1-year low of $16.26 and a 1-year high of $25.80. The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 0.85.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.30%. First Busey’s payout ratio is 48.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BUSE shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $28.00 price objective 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.75.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BUSE. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares during the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey in the third quarter valued at about $218,000. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey in the fourth quarter valued at about $238,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey in the fourth quarter valued at about $249,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of First Busey by 40.6% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,819 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 4,566 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

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.