The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Shares Sold by HM Payson & Co.

HM Payson & Co. reduced its holdings in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,196 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,941 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,842,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $199,063,000 after acquiring an additional 828,150 shares during the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 3.5% during the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 5,710,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $166,117,000 after purchasing an additional 193,898 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 4.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,604,984 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $163,049,000 after buying an additional 255,250 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 19.8% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,436,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $158,157,000 after buying an additional 899,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 2.0% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,120,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,672,000 after buying an additional 41,939 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on IPG shares. UBS Group downgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $34.00 to $29.00 in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $26.00 target price (down from $28.00) on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.57.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

NYSE IPG opened at $29.48 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $31.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.69. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.00 and a 52 week high of $35.17. The stock has a market cap of $10.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.09. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 27.76% and a net margin of 7.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.26%.

About Interpublic Group of Companies

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.