Woodline Partners LP Invests $627,000 in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 22,378 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $627,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC raised its position in 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 raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 20.7% during the 4th 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. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,677,000 after buying an additional 587 shares during the period. Finally, Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,094 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 607 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:IPG traded down $0.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $23.97. 47,959,083 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,418,040. 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 12 month low of $22.51 and a 12 month high of $33.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $24.77 and a 200-day moving average of $26.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.10 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program 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 programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.51%. Interpublic Group of Companies's payout ratio is currently 100.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IPG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Argus lowered shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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.