The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Shares Acquired by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC grew its holdings in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 1,870.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 128,605 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 122,078 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $3,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 15.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,844,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $943,993,000 after acquiring an additional 3,920,975 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 42,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 240.9% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 28,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $913,000 after acquiring an additional 20,395 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 69.5% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,294 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 2,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP raised its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 956.5% during the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 104,734 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,313,000 after buying an additional 94,821 shares in the last quarter. 98.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on IPG shares. UBS Group upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com started coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Argus cut Interpublic Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Interpublic Group of Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.50.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of IPG stock opened at $26.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.88 billion, a PE ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The business’s fifty day moving average is $27.53 and its 200-day moving average is $29.11. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.85 and a 1 year high of $33.27.

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

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.98%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s payout ratio is presently 72.13%.

Interpublic Group of Companies announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $155.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Interpublic Group of Companies

In other news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total value of $574,672.14. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 143,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,845,263.86. The trade was a 13.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Interpublic Group of Companies Company Profile

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.