MCF Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 1,321 The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,321 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $43,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Tobam raised its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 2,340.0% in the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 1,098 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053 shares during the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 55.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,513 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Interpublic Group of Companies

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

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

NYSE IPG opened at $31.03 on Tuesday. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $27.20 and a one year high of $40.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $31.96 and a 200 day moving average of $31.34. The company has a market capitalization of $11.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.89, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The business services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.57 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 10.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.02 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.78 EPS for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is an increase from Interpublic Group of Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Interpublic Group of Companies’s payout ratio is currently 46.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on IPG. UBS Group began coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Interpublic Group of Companies from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on Interpublic Group of Companies from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Interpublic Group of Companies from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.25.

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.