Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Independent Bank Corp. $INDB

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB - Free Report) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,134,903 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 116,820 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.05% of Independent Bank worth $321,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Independent Bank by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,318,650 shares of the bank's stock worth $148,835,000 after acquiring an additional 36,335 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 687.2% during the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 948,244 shares of the bank's stock valued at $60,868,000 after acquiring an additional 827,793 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 354,168 shares of the bank's stock valued at $22,734,000 after acquiring an additional 35,165 shares during the last quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA boosted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 68.6% during the first quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 293,736 shares of the bank's stock valued at $18,403,000 after acquiring an additional 119,471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 2.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 211,600 shares of the bank's stock valued at $13,257,000 after acquiring an additional 5,521 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

INDB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Independent Bank from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Independent Bank from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.00.

Independent Bank Trading Up 5.9%

Shares of Independent Bank stock traded up $3.98 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $70.94. The stock had a trading volume of 333,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 359,442. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.01 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Independent Bank Corp. has a 1 year low of $52.15 and a 1 year high of $77.23.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $181.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $179.47 million. Independent Bank had a return on equity of 6.39% and a net margin of 18.93%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Independent Bank Corp. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Independent Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 7th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. Independent Bank's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.27%.

Independent Bank 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.