Joseph Lerner Sells 2,832 Shares of Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) Stock

Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) Director Joseph Lerner sold 2,832 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.31, for a total value of $218,941.92. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,253,581.65. The trade was a 14.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Independent Bank Stock Performance

Shares of INDB opened at $79.12 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.70 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $77.68 and a 200 day moving average of $77.06. Independent Bank Corp. has a 12 month low of $57.01 and a 12 month high of $87.00.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $252.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $251.45 million. Independent Bank had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 8.66%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.06 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Independent Bank Corp. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Independent Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 30th were given a $0.64 dividend. This is an increase from Independent Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 30th. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Independent Bank

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 14.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,943,817 shares of the bank’s stock worth $411,134,000 after acquiring an additional 769,086 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 10.6% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,606,415 shares of the bank’s stock worth $180,286,000 after acquiring an additional 250,651 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 57.9% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,703,144 shares of the bank’s stock worth $107,102,000 after acquiring an additional 624,833 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 84.1% in the fourth quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 1,261,622 shares of the bank’s stock worth $92,199,000 after acquiring an additional 576,183 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,232,467 shares of the bank’s stock worth $90,082,000 after acquiring an additional 20,278 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on INDB shares. Piper Sandler started coverage on Independent Bank in a research report on Monday, March 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 target price for the company. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $97.00 target price on shares of Independent Bank in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Stephens started coverage on Independent Bank in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their target price on Independent Bank from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Independent Bank from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.71.

Independent Bank Company Profile

Independent Bank Group, Inc (NASDAQ:INDB) is a bank holding company headquartered in McKinney, Texas, that provides a range of financial services through its wholly owned subsidiary, Independent Bank. Tracing its roots to the late 19th century, the company has grown from a single community bank into a regional financial institution serving individuals, small businesses and commercial clients. Independent Bank Group became a bank holding company in 1983 and expanded its footprint through organic growth and strategic acquisitions.

The company’s primary business activities encompass retail and commercial banking, including deposit products, consumer and business lending and credit services.