Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) Shares Sold by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 486,766 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 90,454 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in Independent Bank were worth $31,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in INDB. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Independent Bank by 75.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 94,976 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,616,000 after buying an additional 40,697 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in Independent Bank in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,060,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in Independent Bank by 364.9% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 2,213 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 1,737 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Independent Bank during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,586,000. Finally, Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC acquired a new position in shares of Independent Bank during the fourth quarter worth $250,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Independent Bank news, Director Donna L. Abelli sold 640 shares of Independent Bank stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.03, for a total value of $44,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,516 shares in the company, valued at $876,495.48. The trade was a 4.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on INDB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Independent Bank from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. StockNews.com lowered Independent Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 26th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Independent Bank from $74.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $78.00 price objective (up from $74.00) on shares of Independent Bank in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.00.

Independent Bank Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:INDB opened at $61.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.68 and a beta of 0.82. Independent Bank Corp. has a one year low of $45.11 and a one year high of $77.23. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.18.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $178.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $175.03 million. Independent Bank had a net margin of 19.58% and a return on equity of 6.57%. Sell-side analysts predict that Independent Bank Corp. will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.59 dividend. This is an increase from Independent Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.15%.

About Independent Bank

Independent Bank Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Rockland Trust Company that provides commercial banking products and services to individuals and small-to-medium sized businesses in the United States. The company provides interest checking, money market, and savings accounts, as well as demand deposits and time certificates of deposit.