Focus Partners Wealth Buys New Shares in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 20,351 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $570,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 480 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 3,341 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 573 shares during the period. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $102,000. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on IPG shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Argus downgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $33.44.

Insider Transactions 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 shares were sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total transaction of $574,672.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 143,373 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,845,263.86. This represents a 13.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of IPG stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $24.01. 3,920,134 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,208,409. The business has a 50 day moving average of $24.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.51 and a 52 week high of $33.05. The company has a market capitalization of $8.88 billion, a PE ratio of 13.12 and a beta of 1.09.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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 firm's revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Interpublic Group of Companies's dividend payout ratio is 100.76%.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $155.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Interpublic Group of Companies

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.