Bank of Montreal Can Purchases 116,184 Shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) by 19.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 711,573 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 116,184 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.19% of Interpublic Group of Companies worth $19,938,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,938,530 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $362,538,000 after buying an additional 511,607 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,531,530 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $266,614,000 after purchasing an additional 81,996 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 25,637.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,403,256 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $207,439,000 after purchasing an additional 7,374,491 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 133.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 5,402,201 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $150,393,000 after purchasing an additional 3,089,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,271,759 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $119,695,000 after purchasing an additional 310,621 shares during the period. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas raised 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. Argus cut shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays raised Interpublic Group of Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $36.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $33.67.

Insider Activity

In other Interpublic Group of Companies news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Interpublic Group of Companies Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE IPG traded up $0.12 on Tuesday, hitting $25.13. 4,096,870 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,080,024. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $26.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.73 and a beta of 1.01. 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 Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.51 and a 52-week high of $33.05.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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%. Research analysts forecast that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.25%. Interpublic Group of Companies's payout ratio is 72.13%.

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

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.