445,866 Shares in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Bought by Westchester Capital Management LLC

Westchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 445,866 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $12,493,000. Interpublic Group of Companies comprises approximately 0.7% of Westchester Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Westchester Capital Management LLC owned about 0.12% of Interpublic Group of Companies as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Keyvantage Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter worth $282,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 248.3% during the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,233,105 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,552,000 after purchasing an additional 879,116 shares during the last quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $329,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,337,315 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $37,514,000 after purchasing an additional 206,517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ClearAlpha Technologies LP acquired a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $2,662,000. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Saturday. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. 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 research note on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Argus cut shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $33.44.

Interpublic Group of Companies Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE IPG traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $24.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 952,277 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,113,840. The stock has a market cap of $9.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56 and a beta of 1.01. 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 Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $22.51 and a one year high of $33.05. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $25.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.83.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Interpublic Group of Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 100.76%.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $155.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Interpublic Group of Companies

In related news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 143,373 shares in the company, valued at $3,845,263.86. This represents a 13.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.