Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 46,302 Shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. trimmed its holdings in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) by 13.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 297,396 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 46,302 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.08% of Interpublic Group of Companies worth $8,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in IPG. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 69.5% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,294 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $204,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,325,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 45,894 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. 98.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Interpublic Group of Companies

In other news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total value of $574,672.14. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 143,373 shares of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on IPG. Argus downgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $27.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays decreased 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 report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $39.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen initiated coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $33.44.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of IPG traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $24.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,920,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,208,409. The company has a market cap of $8.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.12 and a beta of 1.09. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.09. 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 posted 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. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 27.10%. The company's revenue was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $155.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

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

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.