The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Stake Lessened by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC lowered its holdings in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,591 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,991 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $2,325,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 75.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 465,454 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,042,000 after acquiring an additional 4,177 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on IPG. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen began coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Argus downgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Interpublic Group of Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.44.

Interpublic Group of Companies Trading Up 0.1%

Interpublic Group of Companies stock opened at $23.08 on Tuesday. 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 capitalization of $8.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.61 and a beta of 1.06. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $22.51 and a one year high of $33.05. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $24.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.73.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 27.10%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s payout ratio is 100.76%.

Interpublic Group of Companies announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $155.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.