JPMorgan Chase & Co. Acquires 126,791 Shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 338,640 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 126,791 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Independent Bank were worth $20,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 55,715 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 4,938 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its stake in Independent Bank by 29.1% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 48,448 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,457,000 after acquiring an additional 10,926 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Independent Bank by 48.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 273,264 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,860,000 after acquiring an additional 89,317 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in shares of Independent Bank during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $776,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 9.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,157,917 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $109,443,000 after purchasing an additional 186,680 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James raised shares of Independent Bank from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $74.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com cut Independent Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Independent Bank from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Independent Bank has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.00.

Independent Bank Stock Performance

Shares of INDB opened at $62.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of 13.55 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $68.96 and a 200-day moving average of $62.24. Independent Bank Corp. has a one year low of $45.11 and a one year high of $77.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.02. Independent Bank had a return on equity of 6.74% and a net margin of 20.26%. The firm had revenue of $250.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 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.