Russell Investments Group Ltd. Boosts Holdings in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 248,499 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,726 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.06% of Interpublic Group of Companies worth $8,119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Tobam grew its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 2,340.0% in the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 1,098 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,053 shares in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. 98.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IPG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Interpublic Group of Companies from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Thursday, January 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.13.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

IPG stock opened at $30.96 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market cap of $11.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $31.66 and its 200 day moving average is $31.48. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.20 and a 52 week high of $40.95.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 29.70% and a net margin of 9.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This is a positive change from Interpublic Group of Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 46.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Interpublic Group of Companies news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 40,393 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total transaction of $1,300,654.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 88,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,844,870. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Interpublic Group of Companies news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 40,393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total transaction of $1,300,654.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,844,870. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Christopher F. Carroll sold 18,382 shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total value of $591,900.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 42,390 shares in the company, valued at $1,364,958. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 249,646 shares of company stock valued at $8,038,601 over the last three months. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.