Nomura Holdings Inc. Invests $344,000 in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 12,274 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $344,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 75.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. GeoWealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 3,341 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the period. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the fourth quarter worth $102,000. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the fourth quarter worth $141,000. 98.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on IPG shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Argus downgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $27.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen initiated coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $33.44.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Up 0.3%

IPG stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.54. The company had a trading volume of 1,125,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,199,008. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.07. The company has a market capitalization of $9.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 1.09. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 27.10%. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.98 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.38%. Interpublic Group of Companies's payout ratio is 100.76%.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $155.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Interpublic Group of Companies

In other news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 143,373 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,845,263.86. This trade represents a 13.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.