Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) Shares Gap Down to $49.45

Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $49.45, but opened at $47.84. Independent Bank shares last traded at $49.82, with a volume of 24,437 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on INDB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Independent Bank from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. TheStreet downgraded shares of Independent Bank from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th.

Independent Bank Stock Up 2.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.76 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $50.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The bank reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $177.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.75 million. Independent Bank had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 7.85%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Independent Bank Corp. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is a boost from Independent Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Donna L. Abelli sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.83, for a total transaction of $42,264.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $614,941.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in INDB. State of Wyoming raised its holdings in Independent Bank by 44.4% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 543 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC purchased a new position in Independent Bank during the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Independent Bank by 30.4% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,262 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Independent Bank in the second quarter valued at about $98,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Independent Bank by 13.5% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,598 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.