Traders Buy Large Volume of Interpublic Group of Companies Put Options (NYSE:IPG)

The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 8,085 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,414% compared to the average daily volume of 534 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of IPG. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 4,136 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 73.8% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 883 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 2.2% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 17,584 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $494,000 after buying an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,058 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 52.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $32.50 to $32.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com raised Interpublic Group of Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. BNP Paribas lowered Interpublic Group of Companies from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Interpublic Group of Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.57.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE IPG traded down $2.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $27.10. 10,276,762 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,946,664. Interpublic Group of Companies has a one year low of $27.01 and a one year high of $35.17. The company's 50 day moving average is $30.70 and its 200 day moving average is $30.62. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $10.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 1.10.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.30 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 7.44% and a return on equity of 27.76%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Interpublic Group of Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.26%.

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.