Alpine Associates Management Inc. Purchases New Shares in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Alpine Associates Management Inc. purchased 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. The firm purchased 351,800 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $9,857,000. Alpine Associates Management Inc. owned 0.09% of Interpublic Group of Companies at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Personal CFO Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $753,000. Amundi boosted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 133.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 5,402,201 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $150,393,000 after purchasing an additional 3,089,387 shares during the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $209,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 15,335 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 2,443 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Interpublic Group of Companies

In related news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 143,373 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,845,263.86. This trade represents a 13.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE IPG traded down $0.25 during trading on Thursday, reaching $26.11. 7,387,386 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,991,991. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $27.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $9.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 1.14. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.97 and a 1 year high of $35.17.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.04). Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 27.10%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Interpublic Group of Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on IPG. UBS Group upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $32.00 to $39.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Sunday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $34.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $33.50.

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.