Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires Shares of 33,883 Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB)

Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 33,883 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $2,060,000. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Independent Bank as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Independent Bank during the 2nd quarter worth $73,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Independent Bank during the third quarter worth approximately $222,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Independent Bank during the 3rd quarter worth $257,000. Profund Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Independent Bank in the 2nd quarter worth $229,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Independent Bank by 29.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 5,378 shares of the bank's stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of Independent Bank from a "market perform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $74.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Independent Bank from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Independent Bank from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.00.

Independent Bank Price Performance

NASDAQ INDB traded down $0.92 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $65.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 248,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 280,332. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company's 50-day moving average is $68.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.10. Independent Bank Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $45.11 and a fifty-two week high of $77.23. The stock has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of 14.13 and a beta of 0.76.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:INDB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The bank reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $250.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.24 million. Independent Bank had a net margin of 20.26% and a return on equity of 6.74%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Independent Bank Corp. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Independent Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Independent Bank's payout ratio is 49.57%.

Independent Bank Profile

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.