Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 5.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,552 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,316 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned about 0.06% of Independent Bank worth $1,452,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Independent Bank by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,157,917 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $109,443,000 after buying an additional 186,680 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 342,201 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its stake in Independent Bank by 14.3% during the second quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 737,477 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,405,000 after purchasing an additional 92,438 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 310,381 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,146,000 after purchasing an additional 6,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Independent Bank by 258.9% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 299,234 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,177,000 after purchasing an additional 215,860 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Independent Bank Stock Performance

Shares of INDB stock opened at $61.84 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 0.73. Independent Bank Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $45.11 and a fifty-two week high of $68.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $60.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.06.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. Independent Bank had a net margin of 20.26% and a return on equity of 6.79%. The business had revenue of $250.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $173.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. Analysts expect that Independent Bank Corp. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Independent Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 4th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Independent Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Independent Bank from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $74.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Independent Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.50.

About Independent Bank

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.