Omnicom Group Inc. $OMC Stock Acquired by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC) by 4.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 500,416 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,409 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of Omnicom Group worth $36,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Omnicom Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,082,476,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Omnicom Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $914,156,000. Nykredit A S acquired a new position in shares of Omnicom Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $126,937,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Omnicom Group by 116.2% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,847,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $214,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Omnicom Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $105,402,000. 91.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Omnicom Group Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:OMC opened at $78.30 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.68. Omnicom Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $66.33 and a 1-year high of $89.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.67 by ($0.02). Omnicom Group had a return on equity of 24.73% and a net margin of 1.74%. The company had revenue of $6.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.05 EPS. Omnicom Group’s quarterly revenue was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Omnicom Group Inc. will post 10.50 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Omnicom Group from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Argus upgraded shares of Omnicom Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Omnicom Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays dropped their price target on Omnicom Group from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Omnicom Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.75.

Insider Activity at Omnicom Group

In other news, Director Linda Rice sold 1,385 shares of Omnicom Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.73, for a total value of $122,891.05. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,039,826.87. This trade represents a 10.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Omnicom Group

Omnicom Group Inc is a global marketing and communications company that provides advertising, media, branding, public relations, customer relationship management and specialty marketing services. Through its network of agencies and specialized businesses, the company helps clients develop brands, engage customers and execute integrated marketing campaigns across traditional and digital channels.

Omnicom’s services include creative advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital marketing, data and precision marketing, public relations, healthcare communications, experiential marketing, commerce and consulting.