Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Raises Holdings in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP raised its position in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,967 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,139 shares during the period. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Independent Bank were worth $640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Independent Bank by 106.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 25,077 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,483,000 after buying an additional 12,904 shares in the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Independent Bank in the third quarter valued at about $535,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 59.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 338,640 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,024,000 after purchasing an additional 126,791 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its stake in Independent Bank by 11.1% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 283,661 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,773,000 after purchasing an additional 28,373 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Independent Bank by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 206,079 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,228,000 after purchasing an additional 5,792 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Donna L. Abelli sold 640 shares of Independent Bank stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.03, for a total value of $44,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,495.48. The trade was a 4.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Independent Bank Price Performance

Independent Bank stock opened at $63.07 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.56. 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 Corp. has a 1 year low of $45.11 and a 1 year high of $77.23. The company has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.95 and a beta of 0.77.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The bank reported $1.21 EPS 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Independent Bank Corp. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Independent Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.59 dividend. This is an increase from Independent Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Independent Bank’s payout ratio is currently 50.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on INDB shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Independent Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 15th. Raymond James restated 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Independent Bank from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st.

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.