Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Decreases Stock Holdings in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD trimmed its holdings in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 529,037 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 28,759 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.14% of Interpublic Group of Companies worth $14,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 42,496 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 69.5% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,294 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 2,991 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter worth $421,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $2,325,000. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 1,030,630 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $28,878,000 after buying an additional 45,894 shares during the period. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on IPG. UBS Group upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup reiterated 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. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $38.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Argus lowered shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $39.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $33.44.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock traded down $0.09 on Wednesday, reaching $24.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,707,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,144,938. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.51 and a 52 week high of $33.05. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $25.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $9.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62 and a beta of 1.09.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.29%. Interpublic Group of Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.76%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $574,672.14. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 143,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,845,263.86. The trade was a 13.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Interpublic Group of Companies Company 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.