Omnicom Group Inc. $OMC Shares Sold by Conning Inc.

Key Points

• Conning Inc. reduced its Omnicom Group holdings by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 15,172 shares and ending with 408,356 shares valued at about $33.0 million.
• Omnicom reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with earnings per share of $1.90 versus $1.84 expected and revenue of $6.24 billion versus $5.85 billion estimated.
• The company also announced a $5 billion share repurchase program and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, implying an annualized yield of 4.5%.

Conning Inc. lessened its holdings in Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 408,356 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 15,172 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc. owned about 0.21% of Omnicom Group worth $32,975,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Omnicom Group by 64.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,934,118 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,143,930,000 after acquiring an additional 15,220,444 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Omnicom Group by 15.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,863,327 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,384,980,000 after purchasing an additional 2,298,652 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Omnicom Group by 30.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,107,021 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $660,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,893,316 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Omnicom Group by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,870,437 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $635,538,000 after purchasing an additional 433,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Omnicom Group by 73.6% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,652,469 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $542,376,000 after purchasing an additional 2,820,553 shares during the last quarter. 91.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on OMC shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Omnicom Group from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group raised their target price on Omnicom Group from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Omnicom Group from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Omnicom Group in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Argus upgraded Omnicom Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.71.

Omnicom Group Trading Down 3.4%

Shares of Omnicom Group stock opened at $71.68 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.91. Omnicom Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $66.33 and a fifty-two week high of $87.17. The company has a market cap of $20.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 183.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.66.

Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.85 billion. Omnicom Group had a return on equity of 24.48% and a net margin of 0.32%.Omnicom Group's revenue for the quarter was up 69.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Omnicom Group Inc. will post 10.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Omnicom Group announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 38.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Omnicom Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Omnicom Group's payout ratio is 820.51%.

Omnicom Group Company Profile

Omnicom Group Inc NYSE: OMC is a global marketing and corporate communications holding company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1986 through the merger of the BBDO, DDB and Needham Harper agencies, Omnicom has built a portfolio of leading brands and networks serving clients across diverse industries.

The company's primary business activities encompass advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations, and customer relationship management.

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