755,205 Shares in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Acquired by AQR Arbitrage LLC

AQR Arbitrage LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 755,205 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $21,161,000. AQR Arbitrage LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Interpublic Group of Companies as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of IPG. West Oak Capital LLC grew its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 55,595 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,558,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 21,236 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $595,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 75.8% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 3,341 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 573 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. grew its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 59,844 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,677,000 after buying an additional 587 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on IPG. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Argus cut shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. BNP Paribas upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Sunday. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $33.44.

Insider Activity

In other Interpublic Group of Companies news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total transaction of $574,672.14. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 143,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,845,263.86. This represents a 13.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

NYSE IPG traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $25.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,098,960 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,141,007. The company has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.66 and a beta of 1.09. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.51 and a 1-year high of $33.05. The business has a 50 day moving average of $25.53 and a 200-day moving average of $27.62. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Interpublic Group of Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.76%.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase 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 reacquire up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Interpublic Group of Companies 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.