The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Shares Acquired by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 623,217 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 427 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $17,463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IPG. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 75.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the third quarter valued at about $107,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 7,037 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $197,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the period. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $203,000. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on IPG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group raised Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Interpublic Group of Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.50.

Insider Activity at Interpublic Group of Companies

In other news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total transaction of $574,672.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 143,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,845,263.86. This represents a 13.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of IPG opened at $26.11 on Wednesday. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.85 and a 1 year high of $33.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.73 billion, a PE ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.85.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.04). Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 27.10% and a net margin of 6.45%. On average, analysts predict that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.05%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s payout ratio is currently 72.13%.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $155.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.