US Bancorp DE Raises Position in Wpp Plc $WPP

US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Wpp Plc (NYSE:WPP) by 27.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,735 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,560 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in WPP were worth $586,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WPP. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its position in WPP by 27.2% during the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 6,720,858 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $255,124,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436,668 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in WPP by 50.8% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,448,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $92,937,000 after purchasing an additional 824,336 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in WPP during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,560,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in WPP by 11.6% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 283,028 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,744,000 after purchasing an additional 29,388 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC raised its position in WPP by 604.0% during the first quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 33,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after purchasing an additional 28,920 shares during the period. 4.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on WPP. Kepler Capital Markets cut WPP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of WPP in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of WPP in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of WPP in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Zacks Research raised WPP from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, WPP has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

WPP Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of NYSE:WPP opened at $23.54 on Monday. Wpp Plc has a 52-week low of $22.42 and a 52-week high of $57.37. The stock has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s 50 day moving average is $25.35 and its 200 day moving average is $31.56.

WPP Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.5033 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a yield of 447.0%. WPP’s dividend payout ratio is 16.25%.

About WPP

WPP plc, a creative transformation company, provides communications, experience, commerce, and technology services in North America, the United Kingdom, Western Continental Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Central and Eastern Europe. The company operates through three segments: Global Integrated Agencies, Public Relations, and Specialist Agencies.