Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Acquires 23,228 Shares of Omnicom Group Inc. $OMC

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC) by 66,365.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 23,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,228 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Omnicom Group were worth $1,878,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Omnicom Group by 64.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,934,118 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,143,930,000 after acquiring an additional 15,220,444 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Omnicom Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $515,145,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Omnicom Group by 73.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,652,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $542,376,000 after purchasing an additional 2,820,553 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Omnicom Group by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,863,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,384,980,000 after purchasing an additional 2,298,652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Omnicom Group by 30.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,107,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $660,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,893,316 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on OMC. 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. Argus raised shares of Omnicom Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Omnicom Group in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup decreased their price target on Omnicom Group from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Omnicom Group from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Omnicom Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.71.

Omnicom Group Price Performance

Shares of OMC stock opened at $74.32 on Thursday. Omnicom Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $66.33 and a 1 year high of $87.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $77.36 and its 200-day moving average is $76.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 190.56, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Omnicom Group Dividend Announcement

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

Omnicom Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 18th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 38.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Omnicom Group

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.