12,296 Shares in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Acquired by Paloma Partners Management Co

Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new stake in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 12,296 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $345,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of IPG. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 42,496 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,191,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 69.5% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,294 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 2,991 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $421,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $2,325,000. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 1,030,630 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $28,878,000 after buying an additional 45,894 shares during the period. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Up 1.6 %

IPG traded up $0.40 on Friday, hitting $25.35. The company had a trading volume of 4,111,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,142,480. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.85 and a beta of 1.01. 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 Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.51 and a 52-week high of $33.05.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 27.10%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $155.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Interpublic Group of Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 143,373 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,845,263.86. This trade represents a 13.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IPG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Argus downgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. BNP Paribas raised Interpublic Group of Companies from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $38.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group raised Interpublic Group of Companies from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Saturday, April 26th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Interpublic Group of Companies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $33.44.

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.