Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 45,017 Shares of Omnicom Group Inc. $OMC

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC) by 99.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 90,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,017 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Omnicom Group were worth $7,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Omnicom Group by 64.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,934,118 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,143,930,000 after acquiring an additional 15,220,444 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Omnicom Group by 15.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,863,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,384,980,000 after acquiring an additional 2,298,652 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Omnicom Group by 30.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,107,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $660,969,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893,316 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Omnicom Group by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,870,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $635,538,000 after acquiring an additional 433,461 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Omnicom Group by 73.6% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,652,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $542,376,000 after acquiring an additional 2,820,553 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on OMC shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Omnicom Group from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Omnicom Group from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Omnicom Group from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Omnicom Group from $108.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Omnicom Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Omnicom Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.71.

Omnicom Group Price Performance

Shares of OMC stock opened at $74.95 on Friday. Omnicom Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $66.33 and a 1 year high of $87.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $75.83 and its 200-day moving average is $76.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 192.19, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.06. Omnicom Group had a net margin of 0.32% and a return on equity of 24.48%. The company had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. Omnicom Group’s quarterly revenue was up 69.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Omnicom Group Inc. will post 10.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Omnicom Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 18th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 38.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Omnicom Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 10th. Omnicom Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 820.51%.

Omnicom Group Company Profile

Omnicom Group Inc (NYSE: OMC) is a global marketing and corporate communications holding company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1986 through the merger of the BBDO, DDB and Needham Harper agencies, Omnicom has built a portfolio of leading brands and networks serving clients across diverse industries.

The company’s primary business activities encompass advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations, and customer relationship management.