ABC Arbitrage SA Makes New $382,000 Investment in Wpp Plc (NYSE:WPP)

Key Points

• ABC Arbitrage SA purchased 10,068 shares of Wpp Plc, worth approximately $382,000, during the first quarter, marking a new investment position in the company.
• Several institutional investors, including Invesco Ltd. and Northern Trust Corp, have significantly increased their holdings in WPP, indicating growing investor interest.
• WPP's stock currently holds an average analyst rating of "Hold," with varied opinions from research firms on its future performance.

ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new position in shares of Wpp Plc (NYSE:WPP - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 10,068 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $382,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in WPP by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 56,210 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,889,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of WPP by 88.3% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 996 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of WPP by 1.5% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,710 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,318,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of WPP by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 20,285 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of WPP by 57.0% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,168 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 4.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WPP shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of WPP in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered WPP from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating on shares of WPP in a research report on Friday. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets lowered WPP from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WPP currently has an average rating of "Hold".

WPP Stock Down 5.5%

WPP stock traded down $1.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $24.72. The stock had a trading volume of 751,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 545,563. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $32.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.02. Wpp Plc has a 1-year low of $24.52 and a 1-year high of $57.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

WPP Profile

WPP plc, a creative transformation company, provides communications, experience, commerce, and technology services in North America, the United Kingdom, Western Continental Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Central and Eastern Europe. The company operates through three segments: Global Integrated Agencies, Public Relations, and Specialist Agencies.