Water Island Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 249,257 The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Water Island Capital LLC bought a new stake in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 249,257 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,984,000. Water Island Capital LLC owned 0.07% of Interpublic Group of Companies at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 75.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $107,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $206,000. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 7,037 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. 98.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on IPG shares. BNP Paribas raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company 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 given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $33.67.

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Interpublic Group of Companies Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE IPG traded up $0.12 on Tuesday, reaching $25.13. 4,096,870 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,083,712. 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 business's fifty day moving average price is $26.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.73 and a beta of 1.01. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.51 and a fifty-two week high of $33.05.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 27.10%. Analysts forecast that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.25%. Interpublic Group of Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.13%.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback 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 generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Interpublic Group of Companies

In related news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

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.