Geode Capital Management LLC Purchases 8,987 Shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,017,400 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,987 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Independent Bank were worth $60,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in INDB. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 25.2% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,701,156 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $86,283,000 after purchasing an additional 342,201 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 258.9% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 299,234 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,177,000 after acquiring an additional 215,860 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 9.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,157,917 shares of the bank’s stock worth $109,443,000 after acquiring an additional 186,680 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 1,697.7% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 132,435 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,831,000 after purchasing an additional 125,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new position in Independent Bank during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,405,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on INDB shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of Independent Bank from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $74.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com cut Independent Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Independent Bank from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.00.

Independent Bank Stock Up 0.8 %

INDB opened at $66.02 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.72. The company has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a PE ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 0.76. Independent Bank Corp. has a 1-year low of $45.11 and a 1-year high of $77.23. 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 (NASDAQ:INDB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $250.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $173.24 million. Independent Bank had a return on equity of 6.74% and a net margin of 20.26%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Independent Bank Corp. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Independent Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Independent Bank’s payout ratio is currently 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.