First Busey Corporation $BUSE Stock: ProShare Advisors LLC Reduces Position

ProShare Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 95.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,040 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 234,851 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in First Busey were worth $292,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BUSE. Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First Busey in the third quarter worth $268,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 31.1% during the third quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 67,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,966,000 after purchasing an additional 16,000 shares during the last quarter. Wavvest Wealth LLC acquired a new position in First Busey in the third quarter worth about $661,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in First Busey by 127.1% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,424 shares of the bank’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 2,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in First Busey in the third quarter valued at about $922,000. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michael Cassens sold 1,441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.12, for a total transaction of $41,961.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 128,571 shares in the company, valued at $3,743,987.52. The trade was a 1.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,323 shares of company stock valued at $130,627. Company insiders own 3.77% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $28.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 0.76. First Busey Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $22.12 and a fifty-two week high of $31.70. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.04). First Busey had a return on equity of 10.47% and a net margin of 21.13%. The business had revenue of $194.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.77 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Busey Corporation will post 2.65 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 23rd were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 23rd. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on BUSE shares. Piper Sandler cut First Busey from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Zacks Research lowered First Busey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Raymond James Financial downgraded First Busey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. DA Davidson upped their price target on First Busey from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.00.

About First Busey

First Busey Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Champaign, Illinois. Its principal subsidiary, Busey Bank, provides consumer and commercial banking services, including deposit accounts, loans, treasury management and mortgage services. The company also offers wealth management services, such as investment management, financial planning and trust services, through Busey Wealth Management. Its FirsTech business provides payment technology and processing services to businesses and organizations.