Independent Bank Co. (NASDAQ:IBCP) Shares Sold by EAM Investors LLC

EAM Investors LLC lowered its holdings in Independent Bank Co. (NASDAQ:IBCP) by 16.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 22,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,358 shares during the quarter. EAM Investors LLC’s holdings in Independent Bank were worth $784,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PL Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Independent Bank by 3,383.0% in the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,110,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $386,970,000 after buying an additional 10,791,263 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Independent Bank by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,218,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,448,000 after purchasing an additional 25,756 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Independent Bank by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 647,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,597,000 after purchasing an additional 29,475 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Independent Bank by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 523,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,237,000 after purchasing an additional 53,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Independent Bank by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 499,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,663,000 after buying an additional 1,831 shares during the period. 79.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Independent Bank Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IBCP opened at $29.88 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $626.67 million, a PE ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 0.85. Independent Bank Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.53 and a fifty-two week high of $40.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Independent Bank (NASDAQ:IBCP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.10. Independent Bank had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 15.43%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Independent Bank Co. will post 3.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on IBCP. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Independent Bank from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective (up from $39.00) on shares of Independent Bank in a report on Friday, January 24th.

About Independent Bank

Independent Bank Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Independent Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals and businesses in rural and suburban communities in Michigan. It offers checking and savings accounts, commercial lending, direct and indirect consumer financing, mortgage lending, and safe deposit box services.