Stokes Family Office LLC Makes New Investment in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Stokes Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 9,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 15.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,844,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $943,993,000 after buying an additional 3,920,975 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 42,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after buying an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 240.9% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 28,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $913,000 after acquiring an additional 20,395 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 69.5% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,294 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 2,991 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 956.5% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 104,734 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,313,000 after acquiring an additional 94,821 shares during the last quarter. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $32.00 to $39.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. BNP Paribas upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $32.00 to $36.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Monday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Interpublic Group of Companies news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total transaction of $574,672.14. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

Shares of IPG opened at $26.66 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.85 and a 1 year high of $33.29. The stock has a market cap of $9.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $27.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.18.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. On average, 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.13%.

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