Ceera Investments LLC Grows Position in WPP plc (NYSE:WPP)

Ceera Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of WPP plc (NYSE:WPP) by 30.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,060 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,705 shares during the quarter. Ceera Investments LLC’s holdings in WPP were worth $825,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of WPP by 47.9% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 5,356,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $274,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,734,750 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of WPP in the third quarter valued at $35,757,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of WPP in the fourth quarter valued at $8,724,000. Meritage Portfolio Management grew its position in shares of WPP by 72.8% in the third quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 94,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,845,000 after purchasing an additional 39,894 shares during the period. Finally, Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of WPP by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 81,212 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,174,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 4.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WPP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded WPP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Kepler Capital Markets raised WPP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays cut WPP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th.

WPP Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of WPP stock opened at $41.57 on Friday. WPP plc has a twelve month low of $38.90 and a twelve month high of $57.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.96, a PEG ratio of 7.06 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $46.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.83.

WPP Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 7th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.9728 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a yield of 6.2%. This is a boost from WPP’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.95. WPP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.04%.

About WPP

WPP plc, a creative transformation company, provides communications, experience, commerce, and technology services in North America, the United Kingdom, Western Continental Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Central and Eastern Europe. The company operates through three segments: Global Integrated Agencies, Public Relations, and Specialist Agencies.