Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) Price Target to $31.00

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) had its target price trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research note released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on IPG. Barclays upped their price target on Interpublic Group of Companies from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. They issued a neutral rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Interpublic Group of Companies from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $35.13.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of IPG opened at $31.47 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $31.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of $11.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.13. Interpublic Group of Companies has a 52-week low of $27.20 and a 52-week high of $40.95.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 29.70% and a net margin of 9.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This is a boost from Interpublic Group of Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 46.98%.

Insider Transactions at Interpublic Group of Companies

In other news, CEO Philippe Krakowsky sold 150,403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total transaction of $4,842,976.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 415,776 shares in the company, valued at $13,387,987.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Philippe Krakowsky sold 150,403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total transaction of $4,842,976.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 415,776 shares in the company, valued at $13,387,987.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Christopher F. Carroll sold 18,382 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total value of $591,900.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 42,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,364,958. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 249,646 shares of company stock worth $8,038,601 over the last 90 days. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of IPG. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 12.1% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,096,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $459,975,000 after acquiring an additional 1,516,975 shares in the last quarter. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 14.1% in the third quarter. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,722,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $278,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,204,630 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter worth $32,620,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 24.6% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,635,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $132,852,000 after acquiring an additional 916,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,922,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $225,954,000 after acquiring an additional 777,456 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

About Interpublic Group of Companies

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.