The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Shares Acquired by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) by 50.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 122,812 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 41,049 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $3,441,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 25,637.0% during the 4th 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 last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 15.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,844,859 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $943,993,000 after buying an additional 3,920,975 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 133.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 5,402,201 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $150,393,000 after buying an additional 3,089,387 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 12,548.6% in the 4th quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 2,425,247 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $67,955,000 after acquiring an additional 2,406,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the 4th quarter worth $51,794,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.43% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 143,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,845,263.86. This represents a 13.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on IPG. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. 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 report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Interpublic Group of Companies from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group raised Interpublic Group of Companies from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays raised Interpublic Group of Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $33.50.

Interpublic Group of Companies Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE IPG traded up $0.39 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $26.32. The stock had a trading volume of 3,659,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,670,182. The company has a market capitalization of $9.81 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38 and a beta of 1.14. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.85 and a twelve month high of $33.05. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $27.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.04.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.04). Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 27.10% and a net margin of 6.45%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

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 shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued 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 5.02%. Interpublic Group of Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.13%.

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.