INDEPENDENT BANK CORP

Not applicable

PART II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR INDEPENDENT BANK CORP.'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

(a.) Independent Bank Corp.’s common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol INDB. The Company declared aggregate cash dividends of $2.20 and $2.08 per share in 2023 and in 2022, respectively. The ratio of dividends paid to earnings in 2023 and 2022 was 40.92% and 35.53%, respectively.

Payment of dividends by the Company on its common stock is subject to various regulatory restrictions and guidelines. Since substantially all of the funds available for the payment of dividends are derived from the Bank, future dividends will depend on the earnings of the Bank, its financial condition, its need for funds, applicable governmental policies and regulations, and other such matters as the Board of Directors deems appropriate. Management believes that the Bank will continue to generate adequate earnings to continue to pay comparable common dividends on a quarterly basis.

As of February 26, 2024, there were 42,445,920 shares of common stock outstanding which were held by approximately 4,013 holders of record. The number of record-holders may not reflect the number of persons or entities holding stock in nominee name through banks, brokerage firms, and other nominees. The closing price of the Company’s common stock on December 29, 2023, the last trading day of the year, was $65.81.

Comparative Stock Performance Graph

The stock performance graph below and associated table compare the cumulative total shareholder return of the Company’s common stock from December 31, 2018 to December 31, 2023 to the cumulative total return of the NASDAQ Composite Index (U.S. Companies), the KBW NASDAQ Bank Index, and the KBW NASDAQ Regional Banking Index. The lines in the graph and the numbers in the table below represent yearly index levels derived from compounded daily returns that include reinvestment or retention of all dividends. If the yearly interval, based on the last day of a fiscal year, was not a trading day, the preceding trading day was used. The index value for all of the series was set to 100.00 on December 31, 2018 (which assumes that $100.00 was invested in each of the series on December 31, 2018).

The following information in this Item 5 of this Report is not deemed to be "soliciting material" or to be "filed" with the SEC or subject to Regulation 14A or 14C under the Exchange Act or to the liabilities of Section 18 of the Exchange Act and will not be deemed incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except to the extent the Company specifically incorporates it by reference into such a filing. The stock price performance shown on the stock performance graph and associated table below is not necessarily indicative of future price performance. Information used in the graph and table was obtained from a third party provider, a source believed to be reliable, but the Company is not responsible for any errors or omissions in such information.

The following chart depicts the total return performance of the Company:

(b.) Not applicable

(c.) The following table sets forth information regarding the Company’s repurchases of its common stock during the three months ended December 31, 2023:

(1) The remaining shares available for repurchase at December 31, 2023 were repurchased during the first quarter of 2024. Accordingly, the share repurchase plan was terminated.

On October 19, 2023, the Company announced a stock buyback plan which authorizes repurchases by the Company of up to $100 million in common stock. Repurchases under the plan were made from time to time on the open market and in privately negotiated transactions, including through the use of trading plans intended to quality under Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act. The extent to which the Company repurchases shares and the size and timing of these repurchases will depend on a variety of factors, including price, market and economic conditions, the Company's capital position and amount of retained earnings and legal and contractual requirements. During the fourth quarter of 2023, the Company repurchased 1.3 million shares of common stock for $69 million under this plan and the remaining repurchases under this plan were completed during the first quarter of 2024. There are no other active repurchase plans at this time.