AlphaQuest LLC Trims Holdings in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

AlphaQuest LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 60.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,571 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 28,147 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Independent Bank were worth $1,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Independent Bank during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 105.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,911 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 364.9% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 2,213 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 1,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Independent Bank during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $222,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

INDB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Independent Bank from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com lowered Independent Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $78.00 price target (up from $74.00) on shares of Independent Bank in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Independent Bank has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.00.

Independent Bank Stock Performance

INDB stock opened at $63.08 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.96 and a beta of 0.77. Independent Bank Corp. has a 12-month low of $45.11 and a 12-month high of $77.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.54.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Independent Bank Corp. will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

Independent Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Independent Bank 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.