NFJ Investment Group LLC Sells 43,332 Shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

NFJ Investment Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 19.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 176,747 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 43,332 shares during the quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC owned about 0.42% of Independent Bank worth $10,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of INDB. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Independent Bank by 20.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 35,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,775,000 after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Independent Bank during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,405,000. Eastern Bank boosted its position in shares of Independent Bank by 454.7% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 23,237 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,374,000 after purchasing an additional 19,048 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Independent Bank by 186.3% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,186 shares of the bank’s stock worth $770,000 after purchasing an additional 9,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 283,661 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,773,000 after acquiring an additional 28,373 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of Independent Bank from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $74.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Independent Bank from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Independent Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Independent Bank currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.50.

Independent Bank Stock Performance

Shares of INDB stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $72.62. 7,763 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 279,658. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Independent Bank Corp. has a 52-week low of $45.11 and a 52-week high of $77.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.80 and a beta of 0.76.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. Independent Bank had a net margin of 20.26% and a return on equity of 6.74%. The company had revenue of $250.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. Research analysts predict that Independent Bank Corp. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 4th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.57%.

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.