The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) Shares Sold by Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.

Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 1.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 51,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 767 shares during the period. Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $1,490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,096,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $459,975,000 after buying an additional 1,516,975 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,620,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 19.8% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,436,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $158,157,000 after purchasing an additional 899,332 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 101.9% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,690,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $55,162,000 after purchasing an additional 853,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,842,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $199,063,000 after purchasing an additional 828,150 shares during the period. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on IPG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Interpublic Group of Companies from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. UBS Group lowered shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the company from $34.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Interpublic Group of Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.00.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Up 1.3 %

IPG stock opened at $31.49 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.96. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.20 and a 52-week high of $35.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.21, a P/E/G ratio of 5.17 and a beta of 1.10.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.33 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 27.98% and a net margin of 9.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.19%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s payout ratio is presently 46.98%.

Interpublic Group of Companies Company 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.