Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $1.44 Million Investment in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 21,900 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,441,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in Independent Bank by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 99,981 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,580,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Independent Bank by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,677 shares of the bank's stock valued at $703,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its position in Independent Bank by 22.1% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 518,119 shares of the bank's stock valued at $34,097,000 after acquiring an additional 93,901 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC boosted its position in Independent Bank by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 4,989 shares of the bank's stock valued at $328,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Independent Bank during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,463,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on INDB. TheStreet cut Independent Bank from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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 report on Monday, January 22nd.

Independent Bank Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of INDB stock traded up $1.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $50.56. 419,383 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 257,938. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $50.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.93. Independent Bank Corp. has a 12-month low of $43.28 and a 12-month high of $68.75. The stock has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.76 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 18th. The bank reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.01. Independent Bank had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 7.85%. The company had revenue of $177.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.75 million. On average, analysts expect that Independent Bank Corp. will post 4.53 EPS for the current year.

Independent Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a $0.57 dividend. This is a positive change from Independent Bank's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. Independent Bank's payout ratio is presently 44.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.