39,000 Shares in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Purchased by Caption Management LLC

Caption Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 39,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,093,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 0.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,651,753 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $52,243,000 after buying an additional 13,546 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $206,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $107,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 1.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 295,937 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,322,000 after purchasing an additional 4,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 7.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,277,771 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $72,041,000 after purchasing an additional 157,695 shares during the period. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 143,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,845,263.86. The trade was a 13.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IPG has been the subject of several recent research reports. BNP Paribas raised 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. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $39.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Argus lowered shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Interpublic Group of Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.44.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

IPG stock opened at $25.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.68 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.60. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.51 and a 12-month high of $33.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.03. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 27.10% and a net margin of 6.45%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $155.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The business 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 of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.27%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.76%.

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.