California Public Employees Retirement System Cuts Stake in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 626,664 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 60,308 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $17,559,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allworth Financial LP increased 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 valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $107,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $206,000. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 72.9% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 6,529 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,752 shares during the last quarter. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Interpublic Group of Companies

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 value 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. The trade was a 13.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $34.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Argus downgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.50.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of IPG stock opened at $23.70 on Friday. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.67 and a fifty-two week high of $33.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.83 billion, a PE ratio of 12.95 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.75.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. Equities analysts expect 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 plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $155.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given 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 yield of 5.57%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.13%.

Interpublic Group of Companies Company 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.