Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Grows Stake in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP grew its position in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 12.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,967 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 1,139 shares during the quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Independent Bank were worth $640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in INDB. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Independent Bank by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 24,123 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,548,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Independent Bank in the 4th quarter worth approximately $559,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 469,359 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,128,000 after purchasing an additional 46,046 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in Independent Bank by 129.4% during the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,385 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $474,000 after buying an additional 4,166 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Independent Bank by 54.5% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 40,531 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,602,000 after buying an additional 14,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Independent Bank

In other news, Director Donna L. Abelli sold 640 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.03, for a total transaction of $44,819.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,516 shares in the company, valued at $876,495.48. This trade represents a 4.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.87% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on INDB shares. StockNews.com upgraded Independent Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 15th. 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 note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of 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.

Independent Bank Price Performance

Shares of INDB stock opened at $63.07 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $66.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.56. Independent Bank Corp. has a 1-year low of $45.11 and a 1-year high of $77.23. The company has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.95 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 (NASDAQ:INDB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 expect that Independent Bank Corp. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Independent Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.44%.

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.