Paragon Capital Management Ltd Sells 1,538 Shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Paragon Capital Management Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 17.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,538 shares during the period. Paragon Capital Management Ltd’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in IPG. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,844,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $943,993,000 after purchasing an additional 3,920,975 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,426,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $393,064,000 after purchasing an additional 270,857 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,449,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $298,107,000 after purchasing an additional 81,265 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 13.8% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC lifted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 5,710,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $166,117,000 after purchasing an additional 193,898 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on IPG shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $32.50 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $26.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $36.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.50.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE IPG opened at $27.79 on Thursday. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.30 and a twelve month high of $35.17. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.06. The company has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a PE ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.70. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 7.44% and a return on equity of 27.76%. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.75%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.26%.

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.