Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC Trims Holdings in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC decreased its holdings in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,947 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 246 shares during the period. Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC’s holdings in Independent Bank were worth $523,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 4.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,422,075 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $442,929,000 after buying an additional 215,685 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 2.4% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,325,701 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $191,187,000 after buying an additional 54,624 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 1.3% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,907,345 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $93,632,000 after buying an additional 25,094 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 80.6% during the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,661,215 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $81,549,000 after buying an additional 741,609 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 251.3% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 961,843 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $81,208,000 after buying an additional 688,062 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Independent Bank

In other news, Director Donna L. Abelli sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.83, for a total transaction of $42,264.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,640 shares in the company, valued at $614,941.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on INDB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target 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. TheStreet downgraded Independent Bank from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th.

Independent Bank Stock Up 1.0 %

INDB traded up $0.49 on Wednesday, hitting $48.96. The company had a trading volume of 24,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 288,112. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.90. Independent Bank Corp. has a 12-month low of $43.28 and a 12-month high of $68.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.94 and a beta of 0.83.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The bank reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.01. Independent Bank had a return on equity of 8.35% and a net margin of 26.02%. The company had revenue of $177.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.75 million. Analysts predict that Independent Bank Corp. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Independent Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Independent Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Independent Bank’s payout ratio is 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.