Cetera Trust Company N.A Purchases New Position in WPP plc (NYSE:WPP)

Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new stake in WPP plc (NYSE:WPP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,115 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $148,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in WPP by 27.4% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 132,379 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,901,000 after purchasing an additional 28,439 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its stake in WPP by 732.7% in the third quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 119,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,349,000 after buying an additional 105,577 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in WPP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,486,000. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in WPP by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 9,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in WPP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,150,000. 4.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WPP Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WPP opened at $49.13 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $46.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.22. WPP plc has a 1-year low of $41.13 and a 1-year high of $60.05.

WPP Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 5th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.244 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WPP. UBS Group cut WPP from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com upgraded WPP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.00.

About WPP

WPP plc, a creative transformation company, provides communications, experience, commerce, and technology services in North America, the United Kingdom, Western Continental Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Central and Eastern Europe. The company operates through three segments: Global Integrated Agencies, Public Relations, and Specialist Agencies.