Vanguard Group Inc. Has $1.29 Billion Holdings in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 46,104,068 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 30,182 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Interpublic Group of Companies worth $1,291,836,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IPG. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 75.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $60,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 243,700.0% during the 3rd quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,438 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 2,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $107,000. 98.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on IPG. BNP Paribas raised shares of 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 boosted their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Argus cut Interpublic Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total transaction of $574,672.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 143,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,845,263.86. The trade was a 13.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of IPG opened at $26.42 on Friday. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.85 and a 1 year high of $33.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $27.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.97. The firm has a market cap of $9.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.44 and a beta of 1.14.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s payout ratio is 72.13%.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its board has approved a share 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 buy up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.