Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on INDB. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $78.00 price target (up from $74.00) on shares of Independent Bank in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Independent Bank from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st.

Independent Bank Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of INDB opened at $63.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. Independent Bank has a one year low of $45.11 and a one year high of $77.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.08 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $66.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.53.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The bank reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.05. Independent Bank had a return on equity of 6.57% and a net margin of 19.58%. Equities research analysts forecast that Independent Bank will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Donna L. Abelli sold 640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.03, for a total value of $44,819.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $876,495.48. This represents a 4.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Independent Bank

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,318,650 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $148,835,000 after purchasing an additional 36,335 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,017,400 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,170,000 after purchasing an additional 8,987 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 687.2% in the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 948,244 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,868,000 after purchasing an additional 827,793 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 544,948 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,980,000 after purchasing an additional 21,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 469,359 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,128,000 after purchasing an additional 46,046 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

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.