Vise Technologies Inc. Purchases Shares of 11,726 The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 11,726 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $329,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 0.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,651,753 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $52,243,000 after acquiring an additional 13,546 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 48,242 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,352,000 after acquiring an additional 3,702 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,820 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 1,574 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 86.0% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 150,240 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,210,000 after acquiring an additional 69,465 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 615,483 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $17,246,000 after acquiring an additional 2,116 shares during the period. 98.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on IPG shares. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen started coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Barclays decreased their target price on 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, Argus downgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have given 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 target price of $33.44.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE IPG traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $24.31. 5,667,679 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,238,083. 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's 50 day moving average price is $24.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.05. The firm has a market cap of $8.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.28 and a beta of 1.09. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.51 and a twelve month 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, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 27.10% and a net margin of 6.45%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.43%. Interpublic Group of Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.76%.

Interpublic Group of Companies announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $155.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Interpublic Group of Companies news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the company'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 in the company, valued at $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 is available at this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Interpublic Group of Companies 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.