Welch & Forbes LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Omnicom Group Inc. $OMC

Welch & Forbes LLC reduced its stake in Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 252,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,851 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC owned 0.13% of Omnicom Group worth $20,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Omnicom Group by 64.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,934,118 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,143,930,000 after buying an additional 15,220,444 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Omnicom Group during the third quarter worth approximately $515,145,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Omnicom Group by 57.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,578,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $690,327,000 after buying an additional 3,117,188 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Omnicom Group by 15.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,863,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,980,000 after buying an additional 2,298,652 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Omnicom Group by 30.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,107,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $660,969,000 after buying an additional 1,893,316 shares during the period. 91.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Argus raised Omnicom Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Barclays lifted their price target on Omnicom Group from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Omnicom Group in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Omnicom Group from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Omnicom Group from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.13.

Omnicom Group Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of OMC stock opened at $72.82 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $75.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.50. Omnicom Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $66.33 and a twelve month high of $87.17. The company has a market capitalization of $20.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 186.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.06. Omnicom Group had a return on equity of 24.48% and a net margin of 0.32%.The company had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.85 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 69.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Omnicom Group Inc. will post 10.97 EPS for the current year.

Omnicom Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 38.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Omnicom Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 10th. Omnicom Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 820.51%.

About Omnicom Group

Omnicom Group Inc (NYSE: OMC) is a global marketing and corporate communications holding company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1986 through the merger of the BBDO, DDB and Needham Harper agencies, Omnicom has built a portfolio of leading brands and networks serving clients across diverse industries.

The company’s primary business activities encompass advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations, and customer relationship management.