Sei Investments Co. Decreases Stock Holdings in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

Sei Investments Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,903 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 8,306 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.15% of Independent Bank worth $4,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of INDB. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Independent Bank by 106.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 25,077 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,483,000 after acquiring an additional 12,904 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in Independent Bank in the third quarter valued at approximately $535,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Independent Bank by 59.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 338,640 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,024,000 after purchasing an additional 126,791 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Independent Bank by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 206,079 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,228,000 after buying an additional 5,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Independent Bank in the fourth quarter valued at $5,586,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Independent Bank from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective (up from $74.00) on shares of Independent Bank in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Independent Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th.

Independent Bank Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ INDB opened at $62.88 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.91 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.74. Independent Bank Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $45.11 and a fifty-two week high of $77.23.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The bank reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.05. Independent Bank had a return on equity of 6.57% and a net margin of 19.58%. On average, analysts forecast that Independent Bank Corp. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Independent Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.59 dividend. This is a positive change from Independent Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. Independent Bank’s payout ratio is 52.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Independent Bank

In other Independent Bank news, Director Donna L. Abelli sold 640 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.03, for a total value of $44,819.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,495.48. This trade represents a 4.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

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.