Insider Selling: The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) CFO Sells 21,427 Shares of Stock

The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total transaction of $574,672.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 143,373 shares in the company, valued at $3,845,263.86. The trade was a 13.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:IPG opened at $27.18 on Thursday. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.15 and a 52 week high of $35.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.85 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.53. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, analysts expect that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $155.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Interpublic Group of Companies

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in IPG. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 75.8% during the 4th 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 during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. 98.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on IPG. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Interpublic Group of Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.50.

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.