Moors & Cabot Inc. Lowers Stake in Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

Moors & Cabot Inc. reduced its position in shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) by 17.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,856 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 8,326 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. owned 0.09% of Independent Bank worth $2,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Independent Bank in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Independent Bank by 105.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Independent Bank by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,911 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Independent Bank by 364.9% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 2,213 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 1,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Independent Bank in the 3rd quarter valued at about $222,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

INDB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $78.00 price target (up from $74.00) on shares of Independent Bank in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Independent Bank from $82.00 to $80.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Independent Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.00.

Independent Bank Stock Up 0.6 %

INDB stock opened at $61.39 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Independent Bank Corp. has a 12 month low of $45.11 and a 12 month high of $77.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $66.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.51.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The bank reported $1.21 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Independent Bank Corp. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Independent Bank

In other news, Director Donna L. Abelli sold 640 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.03, for a total transaction of $44,819.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,516 shares in the company, valued at $876,495.48. This trade represents a 4.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.97% 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.