American Century Companies Inc. Lowers Position in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its position in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 19.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,607,529 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,087,536 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $129,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 75.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 243,700.0% during the third quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,438 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 2,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies during the third quarter worth $107,000. 98.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Interpublic Group of Companies Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of IPG stock opened at $26.51 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.08. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.85 and a 1 year high of $33.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

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 (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, analysts anticipate that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s payout ratio is 72.13%.

Insider Activity

In other Interpublic Group of Companies 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 value of $574,672.14. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 143,373 shares in the company, valued at $3,845,263.86. This represents a 13.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IPG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.