Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Stock Position in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 302.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 162,206 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 121,906 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.38% of Independent Bank worth $10,412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Independent Bank in the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 105.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the bank’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Independent Bank by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,911 shares of the bank’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in Independent Bank by 364.9% during the fourth 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 period. Finally, Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Independent Bank during the 4th quarter valued at about $250,000. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Independent Bank Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ INDB opened at $53.62 on Friday. Independent Bank Corp. has a 52 week low of $45.11 and a 52 week high of $77.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $64.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts expect that Independent Bank Corp. will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a boost from Independent Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.40%. Independent Bank’s payout ratio is presently 52.21%.

Insider Activity at Independent Bank

In related news, Director Donna L. Abelli sold 640 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $876,495.48. This trade represents a 4.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on INDB. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $78.00 price objective (up previously from $74.00) on shares of Independent Bank in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Independent Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Independent Bank from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st.

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.