Excalibur Management Corp Decreases Position in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

Excalibur Management Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 22,850 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Excalibur Management Corp’s holdings in Independent Bank were worth $1,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in INDB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 59.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 338,640 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,024,000 after acquiring an additional 126,791 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in Independent Bank by 1,697.7% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 132,435 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,831,000 after purchasing an additional 125,068 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Independent Bank during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,802,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in Independent Bank by 681.3% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 101,431 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,511,000 after purchasing an additional 88,448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Independent Bank in the 4th quarter worth $5,586,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $78.00 target price (up previously from $74.00) on shares of Independent Bank in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Independent Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Independent Bank from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st.

Insider Activity at Independent Bank

In other Independent Bank 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 transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.87% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Independent Bank Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ INDB opened at $65.18 on Wednesday. Independent Bank Corp. has a 1 year low of $45.11 and a 1 year high of $77.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $66.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.62. The company has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 0.77.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Independent Bank Corp. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Independent Bank Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a positive change from Independent Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.44%.

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.