Natixis Has $14.90 Million Holdings in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Natixis boosted its position in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 402.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 531,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 426,104 shares during the period. Natixis’ holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $14,904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norinchukin Bank The increased its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 30.2% in the fourth quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 27,087 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 6,290 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $432,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,422,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $207,974,000 after acquiring an additional 333,347 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 12,975,872 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $363,584,000 after acquiring an additional 1,492,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP increased its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 7,612 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115 shares in the last quarter. 98.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock opened at $23.91 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.51 and a 12 month high of $33.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.07 and a beta of 1.01.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last issued 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 return on equity of 27.10% and a net margin of 6.45%. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program 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 programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Interpublic Group of Companies news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 143,373 shares in the company, valued at $3,845,263.86. The trade was a 13.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on IPG shares. Barclays upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.67.

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.