Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Position in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,938,530 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 511,607 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $362,538,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in IPG. Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 32,609 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,031,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 55,595 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,558,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 75.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,094 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 148,951 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,711,000 after buying an additional 622 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:IPG opened at $27.18 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $10.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.85 and a beta of 1.11. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.15 and a 1 year high of $35.17. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.53. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts anticipate that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s payout ratio is 72.13%.

Interpublic Group of Companies announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $155.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IPG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Argus lowered Interpublic Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas raised Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $36.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $3,845,263.86. This trade represents a 13.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.