Alpine Associates Management Inc. Makes New Investment in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Alpine Associates Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 351,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,857,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position 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 worth $31,000 after buying an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 243,700.0% in the 3rd quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,438 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 2,437 shares in the last quarter. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $26.00 to $34.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total transaction of $574,672.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Interpublic Group of Companies Trading Up 3.2 %

NYSE IPG opened at $28.20 on Friday. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.15 and a 12 month high of $35.17. The company has a 50-day moving average of $27.74 and a 200-day moving average of $29.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $10.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.13%.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $155.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.