Point72 Hong Kong Ltd Acquires New Stake in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 24,452 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $685,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 95,578 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,678,000 after acquiring an additional 18,987 shares in the last quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $154,000. Man Group plc raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 134.1% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 413,714 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $11,592,000 after acquiring an additional 237,010 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $344,000. Finally, Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP acquired a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $300,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total value of $574,672.14. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 143,373 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,845,263.86. The trade was a 13.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock traded down $0.12 during trading on Thursday, reaching $24.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,179,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,170,385. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $25.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.25. The firm has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a PE ratio of 13.21 and a beta of 1.09. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.51 and a fifty-two week high of $33.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.33 EPS 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 6.45% and a return on equity of 27.10%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Tuesday. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Argus cut shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $33.44.

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.