Personal CFO Solutions LLC Takes Position in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Personal CFO Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 26,872 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $753,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 25,637.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,403,256 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $207,439,000 after buying an additional 7,374,491 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,844,859 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $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 during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,794,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,938,530 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $362,538,000 after buying an additional 511,607 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Interpublic Group of Companies news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the firm'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 owns 143,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,845,263.86. This trade represents a 13.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on IPG. StockNews.com began coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Sunday. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Barclays upgraded 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. UBS Group upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded 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 report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $33.50.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

IPG stock traded down $0.25 during trading on Thursday, hitting $26.11. The company had a trading volume of 7,287,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,991,241. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.97 and a fifty-two week high of $35.17. The company has a market cap of $9.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 1.14.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Equities research analysts expect that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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 currently 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.