The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Shares Bought by Shell Asset Management Co.

Shell Asset Management Co. grew its stake in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 29.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 55,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,735 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $1,812,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,096,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $459,975,000 after acquiring an additional 1,516,975 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,922,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $225,954,000 after purchasing an additional 777,456 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,150,371 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $168,119,000 after purchasing an additional 141,828 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI increased its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 3,797,972 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $123,966,000 after purchasing an additional 153,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 0.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,078,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $67,810,000 after purchasing an additional 13,438 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Bank of America cut their target price on Interpublic Group of Companies from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley cut Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $34.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Interpublic Group of Companies from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Interpublic Group of Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.13.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

Shares of IPG traded up $0.86 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $31.12. 1,208,207 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,932,631. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.26. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.20 and a fifty-two week high of $35.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.75 billion, a PE ratio of 10.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.02. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 9.46% and a return on equity of 28.01%. The business had revenue of $2.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 4th. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.98%.

Interpublic Group of Companies 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.