Aigen Investment Management LP Takes $1.25 Million Position in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 44,596 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,250,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 25,637.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,403,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $207,439,000 after acquiring an additional 7,374,491 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 15.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,844,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $943,993,000 after acquiring an additional 3,920,975 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,938,530 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $362,538,000 after acquiring an additional 511,607 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 10.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,402,349 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $139,246,000 after acquiring an additional 417,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,041,000. Institutional investors own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

Shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock opened at $27.18 on Thursday. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.15 and a 52-week high of $35.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.85 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $27.76 and a 200-day moving average of $29.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.04). Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 27.10%. Equities research analysts expect that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $155.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.86%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.13%.

Insider Activity at Interpublic Group of Companies

In related news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total transaction of $574,672.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 143,373 shares in the company, valued at $3,845,263.86. This represents a 13.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IPG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Interpublic Group of Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.50.

About Interpublic Group of Companies

The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc provides advertising and marketing services worldwide. It operates in three segments: Media, Data & Engagement Solutions, Integrated Advertising & Creativity Led Solutions, and Specialized Communications & Experiential Solutions. The Media, Data & Engagement Solutions segment provides media and communications services, digital services and products, advertising and marketing technology, e-commerce services, data management and analytics, strategic consulting, and digital brand experience under the IPG Mediabrands, UM, Initiative, Kinesso, Acxiom, Huge, MRM, and R/GA brand names.