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

Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading 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 changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Independent Bank from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd. TheStreet lowered Independent Bank from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th.

Independent Bank Trading Up 2.2 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.33 and a beta of 0.83. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $50.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.81.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The bank reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $177.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.75 million. Independent Bank had a return on equity of 8.35% and a net margin of 26.02%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Independent Bank Corp. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Independent Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is an increase from Independent Bank's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. Independent Bank's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Donna L. Abelli sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.83, for a total transaction of $42,264.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $614,941.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.87% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Independent Bank

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Independent Bank by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 8,900 shares of the bank's stock worth $463,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Independent Bank by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,272,986 shares of the bank's stock valued at $347,015,000 after purchasing an additional 69,312 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Independent Bank by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 509,236 shares of the bank's stock valued at $33,513,000 after purchasing an additional 25,664 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Independent Bank by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,582 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,750,000 after purchasing an additional 949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Independent Bank in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,035,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by 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.