Bridgewater Associates LP Increases Stock Position in Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC)

Bridgewater Associates LP increased its holdings in Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC) by 115.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 229,549 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 122,997 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Omnicom Group were worth $19,750,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Omnicom Group by 50.1% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,973,061 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $513,922,000 after purchasing an additional 1,992,695 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Omnicom Group by 250.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,010,547 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $172,987,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436,231 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Omnicom Group by 91.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,147,019 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $184,730,000 after buying an additional 1,027,567 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Omnicom Group in the fourth quarter valued at $79,321,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Omnicom Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $23,163,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OMC has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $103.00 price target on shares of Omnicom Group in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Omnicom Group from $117.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Argus downgraded shares of Omnicom Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Omnicom Group from $121.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Omnicom Group from $119.00 to $116.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.25.

Omnicom Group Stock Performance

Shares of OMC stock opened at $76.87 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $80.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.02. Omnicom Group Inc. has a one year low of $69.13 and a one year high of $107.00.

Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The business services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. Omnicom Group had a net margin of 9.44% and a return on equity of 36.39%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Omnicom Group Inc. will post 8.25 EPS for the current year.

Omnicom Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Omnicom Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.58%.

About Omnicom Group

Omnicom Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers advertising, marketing, and corporate communications services. It provides a range of services in the areas of advertising and media, precision marketing, commerce and branding, experiential, execution and support, public relations, and healthcare.