Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Has $3.44 Million Stock Holdings in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its position in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 50.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 122,812 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,049 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $3,441,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 75.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 243,700.0% in the 3rd quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,438 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 2,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $107,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays raised Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $32.00 to $36.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Argus cut Interpublic Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $34.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $39.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.50.

Insider Activity

In other 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 143,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,845,263.86. This trade represents a 13.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Interpublic Group of Companies Trading Up 0.1 %

IPG stock opened at $26.51 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $27.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.08. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.85 and a fifty-two week high of $33.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 1.14. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.04). Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 27.10%. Analysts expect that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 EPS 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.98%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.13%.

Interpublic Group of Companies announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $155.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to purchase up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Interpublic Group of Companies Company 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.