New York State Common Retirement Fund Boosts Position in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 681.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 101,431 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 88,448 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Independent Bank were worth $6,511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Angel Oak Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Independent Bank during the 4th quarter worth approximately $642,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Independent Bank during the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Independent Bank by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,206 shares of the bank’s stock worth $270,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Independent Bank by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 206,079 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,228,000 after buying an additional 5,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 20,274 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,301,000 after acquiring an additional 992 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 research firms recently commented on INDB. StockNews.com upgraded Independent Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective (up previously from $74.00) on shares of Independent Bank in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Independent Bank from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $79.00.

Insider Transactions at Independent Bank

In related news, Director Donna L. Abelli sold 640 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.03, for a total transaction of $44,819.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $876,495.48. The trade was a 4.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Independent Bank Stock Up 0.6 %

INDB opened at $68.41 on Thursday. Independent Bank Corp. has a 12 month low of $45.11 and a 12 month high of $77.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $66.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13 and a beta of 0.77.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Independent Bank Corp. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Independent Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. Independent Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.44%.

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.