Man Group plc Increases Position in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Man Group plc increased its position in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) by 134.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 413,714 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 237,010 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned about 0.11% of Interpublic Group of Companies worth $11,592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IPG. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 42,496 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,191,000 after buying an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 69.5% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,294 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 2,991 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $421,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,325,000. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its stake in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Interpublic Group of Companies

In other Interpublic Group of Companies news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total value of $574,672.14. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 143,373 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,845,263.86. The trade was a 13.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen began coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Tuesday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Argus cut shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Barclays reduced their target price on 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. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.44.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

IPG stock traded down $0.24 during trading on Thursday, hitting $24.04. The company had a trading volume of 4,293,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,182,519. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.51 and a 1-year high of $33.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $25.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $8.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.14 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Interpublic Group of Companies announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan 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 repurchase up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors 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.