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

NFJ Investment Group LLC cut its holdings in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 176,747 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 43,332 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Independent Bank were worth $10,451,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Independent Bank in the 2nd quarter valued at $73,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Independent Bank in the 3rd quarter valued at $222,000. Profund Advisors LLC bought a new position in Independent Bank in the 2nd quarter valued at $229,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Independent Bank in the 3rd quarter valued at $257,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Independent Bank from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Raymond James upgraded shares of Independent Bank from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $74.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Independent Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.50.

Independent Bank Price Performance

Shares of Independent Bank stock traded down $0.05 on Tuesday, hitting $72.62. 7,763 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 279,658. The company has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.80 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.94. Independent Bank Corp. has a 12-month low of $45.11 and a 12-month 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 issued 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 net margin of 20.26% and a return on equity of 6.74%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. Analysts expect that Independent Bank Corp. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Announces Dividend

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

Independent Bank Company Profile

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.