Swiss National Bank Sells 36,000 Shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Swiss National Bank lessened its holdings in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,203,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 36,000 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.31% of Interpublic Group of Companies worth $39,269,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 14.1% in the third quarter. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,722,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $278,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204,630 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,291,211 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $266,286,000 after buying an additional 167,810 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,385,274 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $240,317,000 after buying an additional 414,110 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,635,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $132,852,000 after buying an additional 916,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 5.6% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,038,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $87,076,000 after acquiring an additional 160,312 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IPG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price 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. UBS Group started coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Thursday, January 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Interpublic Group of Companies from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.13.

Interpublic Group of Companies Trading Up 0.4 %

IPG opened at $30.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.48. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.20 and a fifty-two week high of $40.95. The company has a market cap of $11.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 9.97% and a return on equity of 29.70%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.33 dividend. This is a positive change from Interpublic Group of Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.26%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 40,393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total value of $1,300,654.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,844,870. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 40,393 shares of Interpublic Group of Companies 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,844,870. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Philippe Krakowsky sold 150,403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total transaction of $4,842,976.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 415,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,387,987.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 249,646 shares of company stock worth $8,038,601. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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.