Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) Position Reduced by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. cut its position in shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 80.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,520 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 6,232 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Independent Bank were worth $90,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Independent Bank in the 1st quarter valued at about $47,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Independent Bank in the 2nd quarter valued at about $73,000. Profund Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Independent Bank in the 2nd quarter valued at about $229,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 29.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 5,378 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,305 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 2,687 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Independent Bank Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:INDB opened at $63.17 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $60.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.56. Independent Bank Corp. has a 52 week low of $45.11 and a 52 week high of $68.75. The company has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.19 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.02. Independent Bank had a return on equity of 6.79% and a net margin of 20.26%. The firm had revenue of $250.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Independent Bank Corp. will post 4.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on INDB. Raymond James upgraded 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. StockNews.com downgraded Independent Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Independent Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Independent Bank from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.50.

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.