Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC Has $640,000 Stock Holdings in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 65.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,975 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,950 shares during the period. Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC’s holdings in Independent Bank were worth $640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Independent Bank during the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in Independent Bank by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,911 shares of the bank’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in Independent Bank by 364.9% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 2,213 shares of the bank’s stock worth $142,000 after acquiring an additional 1,737 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Independent Bank during the 3rd quarter valued at $222,000. Finally, Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC bought a new position in Independent Bank in the 4th quarter valued at $250,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Independent Bank Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of INDB opened at $67.90 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $66.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02 and a beta of 0.77. Independent Bank Corp. has a 52 week low of $45.11 and a 52 week 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.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last posted its quarterly 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%. On average, analysts predict that Independent Bank Corp. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Independent Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 50.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Donna L. Abelli sold 640 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.03, for a total value of $44,819.20. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

INDB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Independent Bank from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $78.00 price objective (up previously from $74.00) on shares of Independent Bank in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Independent Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $79.00.

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.