Personal CFO Solutions LLC Takes $753,000 Position in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Personal CFO Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 26,872 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $753,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,844,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $943,993,000 after acquiring an additional 3,920,975 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 240.9% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 28,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $913,000 after purchasing an additional 20,395 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,589,000. Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 956.5% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 104,734 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,313,000 after buying an additional 94,821 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 706,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,355,000 after acquiring an additional 108,267 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Argus lowered shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays raised Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $34.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction of $574,672.14. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 143,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,845,263.86. This trade represents a 13.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of IPG opened at $28.20 on Monday. 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 50-day moving average of $27.74 and a 200-day moving average of $29.47. The company has a market cap of $10.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 1.14. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $26.15 and a one year high of $35.17.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 27.10% and a net margin of 6.45%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s payout ratio is 72.13%.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $155.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to purchase 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 shares are 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.