Arizona State Retirement System Sells 225 Shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

Arizona State Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,338 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 225 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Independent Bank were worth $812,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in INDB. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 12.0% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 41,709 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,407,000 after purchasing an additional 4,461 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 65.6% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,399 shares of the bank’s stock worth $522,000 after purchasing an additional 2,534 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 1.3% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,404 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 54.9% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 24,416 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,995,000 after purchasing an additional 8,651 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 13.4% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 159,365 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,019,000 after purchasing an additional 18,854 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

INDB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TheStreet lowered Independent Bank from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Independent Bank from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Independent Bank

In other Independent Bank news, Director Donna L. Abelli sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.83, for a total value of $42,264.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $614,941.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Independent Bank Price Performance

Independent Bank stock opened at $48.53 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $51.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.89. Independent Bank Corp. has a one year low of $43.28 and a one year high of $68.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 8.95 and a beta of 0.83.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 18th. The bank reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.01. Independent Bank had a return on equity of 8.35% and a net margin of 26.02%. The firm had revenue of $177.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.75 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Independent Bank Corp. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. This is an increase from Independent Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.07%.

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.