Headlands Technologies LLC Purchases New Holdings in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 8,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $31,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the third quarter valued at $107,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 7,037 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $197,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft bought a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. Institutional investors own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IPG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Argus cut shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com began coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $34.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.50.

Interpublic Group of Companies Trading Down 3.6 %

Shares of IPG stock opened at $23.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $8.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.95 and a beta of 1.14. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.67 and a 1 year high of $33.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $27.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.75.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.11 EPS 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, equities analysts predict that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.57%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.13%.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $155.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to purchase up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total value of $574,672.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 143,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,845,263.86. This represents a 13.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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.