Covestor Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,415 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 75.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $107,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 7,037 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $197,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the period. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $203,000. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IPG has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Argus lowered Interpublic Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.50.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of IPG stock traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $24.19. 520,154 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,040,381. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.22 and a beta of 1.01. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $22.51 and a one year high of $33.05. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.49. 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 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.46%. 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 of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $155.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Interpublic Group of Companies

In other news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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. This represents a 13.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company 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.