Jane Street Group LLC Increases Holdings in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 75.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 62,158 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 26,765 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC’s holdings in Independent Bank were worth $3,675,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 25.2% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,701,156 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $86,283,000 after acquiring an additional 342,201 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Independent Bank by 258.9% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 299,234 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,177,000 after purchasing an additional 215,860 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Independent Bank by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,157,917 shares of the bank’s stock worth $109,443,000 after purchasing an additional 186,680 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 1,697.7% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 132,435 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,831,000 after purchasing an additional 125,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Independent Bank during the second quarter valued at about $5,405,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on INDB. Raymond James raised 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Independent Bank from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Independent Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.00.

Independent Bank Price Performance

INDB stock opened at $65.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $68.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.53. Independent Bank Corp. has a 52-week low of $45.11 and a 52-week high of $77.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.24 and a beta of 0.76.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. Independent Bank had a return on equity of 6.74% and a net margin of 20.26%. The business had revenue of $250.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Independent Bank Corp. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.57%.

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.