Natixis Advisors LLC Makes New $722,000 Investment in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 11,252 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $722,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of INDB. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 0.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,017,400 shares of the bank’s stock worth $60,170,000 after acquiring an additional 8,987 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 544,948 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,980,000 after purchasing an additional 21,289 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Independent Bank by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 338,640 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,024,000 after purchasing an additional 126,791 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Independent Bank by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 206,079 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,228,000 after buying an additional 5,792 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 58.8% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 188,385 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,092,000 after buying an additional 69,753 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

INDB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Independent Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on 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. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $78.00 target price (up previously from $74.00) on shares of Independent Bank in a report on Tuesday, January 21st.

Independent Bank Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:INDB opened at $65.15 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $66.46 and its 200 day moving average is $65.62. The company has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Independent Bank Corp. has a 1 year low of $45.11 and a 1 year high of $77.23.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Independent Bank Corp. will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

Independent Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. This is a boost from Independent Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.44%.

Insider Activity

In other Independent Bank news, Director Donna L. Abelli sold 640 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.03, for a total value of $44,819.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,516 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

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.