First Busey Corporation $BUSE Shares Sold by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its position in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 74.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 12,063 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 34,624 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in First Busey were worth $287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of First Busey by 95.9% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 18,143 shares of the bank’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 8,884 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 16.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 198,945 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,297,000 after purchasing an additional 28,605 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 64.1% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 49,724 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 19,431 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in First Busey by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 469,310 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,137,000 after purchasing an additional 38,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in First Busey by 78.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 222,048 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,796,000 after purchasing an additional 97,560 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BUSE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of First Busey from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of First Busey from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on First Busey from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Busey currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.50.

First Busey Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $26.21 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a PE ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $25.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.99. First Busey Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $21.41 and a fifty-two week high of $27.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The bank reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $197.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.15 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 10.19% and a net margin of 19.16%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that First Busey Corporation will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 24th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 24th. First Busey’s payout ratio is presently 46.22%.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

In other First Busey news, CAO Scott A. Phillips purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.90 per share, for a total transaction of $129,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief accounting officer owned 8,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $216,265. This represents a 149.25% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.77% of the company’s stock.

About First Busey

First Busey (NASDAQ: BUSE) is a bank holding company headquartered in Champaign, Illinois, with roots tracing back to the founding of Busey Bank in 1868. As a regional financial institution, it offers a broad spectrum of banking services to individuals, small businesses, and corporations. Its core activities include commercial lending, deposit-taking, and cash management, which are tailored to meet the needs of local communities across its operating footprint.

In addition to traditional banking operations, First Busey provides wealth management and trust services through its subsidiary aimed at high-net-worth clients and fiduciary accounts.