Franklin Resources Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its position in shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,966 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 917 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.08% of Independent Bank worth $2,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Independent Bank by 59.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 338,640 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,024,000 after acquiring an additional 126,791 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Independent Bank by 2.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Independent Bank during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,586,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Independent Bank by 75.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 94,976 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,616,000 after purchasing an additional 40,697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,017,400 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,170,000 after buying an additional 8,987 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on INDB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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 note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Independent Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $78.00 price target (up from $74.00) on shares of Independent Bank in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st.

Insider Activity at Independent Bank

In other Independent Bank 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 sale, the director now directly owns 12,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,495.48. This trade represents a 4.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Independent Bank Stock Performance

Independent Bank stock opened at $53.62 on Monday. 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 Corp. has a 12 month low of $45.11 and a 12 month high of $77.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $64.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.43. The company has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 0.84.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.05. Independent Bank had a net margin of 19.58% and a return on equity of 6.57%. Research analysts expect that Independent Bank Corp. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Independent Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.59 dividend. This is an increase from Independent Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.21%.

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.