Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Takes Position in Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:IPG)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,129,884 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $30,688,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.31% of Interpublic Group of Companies as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in IPG. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $1,480,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 153,830 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,178,000 after buying an additional 3,547 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 43,655 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,185,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 465,454 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $13,042,000 after buying an additional 4,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 133,888 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,721,000 after buying an additional 1,267 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.43% of the company's stock.

Interpublic Group of Companies Trading Up 0.3%

IPG stock traded up $0.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $24.20. The company had a trading volume of 11,070,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,037,236. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. 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 50 day simple moving average of $24.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.47 and a beta of 1.05.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.98 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 4.69% and a return on equity of 27.21%. The company's revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Interpublic Group of Companies's payout ratio is presently 100.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on IPG shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays cut shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $34.00 to $27.50 in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Interpublic Group of Companies presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.06.

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.