Arvest Investments Inc. Sells 4,160 Shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Arvest Investments Inc. reduced its stake in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,160 shares during the quarter. Arvest Investments Inc.’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $1,654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of IPG. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 25,637.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,403,256 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $207,439,000 after acquiring an additional 7,374,491 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,844,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $943,993,000 after acquiring an additional 3,920,975 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 133.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 5,402,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $150,393,000 after acquiring an additional 3,089,387 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,794,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,938,530 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $362,538,000 after purchasing an additional 511,607 shares during the period. 98.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

NYSE IPG opened at $26.66 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $27.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.18. The stock has a market cap of $9.94 billion, a PE ratio of 14.57 and a beta of 1.14. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.85 and a fifty-two week high of $33.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share 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, equities analysts expect that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $155.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. 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 4.95%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s payout ratio is presently 72.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total value of $574,672.14. Following 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on IPG shares. Argus cut shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $27.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $36.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.50.

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.