Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Has $488,000 Stock Position in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 867 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 42,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 69.5% during the 4th 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 during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $421,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,325,000. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 1,030,630 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,878,000 after buying an additional 45,894 shares during the period. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on IPG shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays cut their price target on Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Argus lowered Interpublic Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.44.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

Shares of IPG stock opened at $24.97 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.77. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $22.51 and a one year high of $33.05. The firm has a market cap of $9.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 1.01. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 27.10%. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.76%.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $155.00 million in 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 a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Interpublic Group of Companies

In other Interpublic Group of Companies news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock in a transaction 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 owns 143,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,845,263.86. The trade was a 13.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.