Trexquant Investment LP Acquires 21,132 Shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Trexquant Investment LP grew its holdings in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 39.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 74,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,132 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $2,419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Tobam raised its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 2,340.0% during the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 1,098 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Interpublic Group of Companies Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE IPG opened at $31.70 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.74. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.20 and a 12 month high of $40.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 29.70% and a net margin of 9.97%. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 4th. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on IPG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Interpublic Group of Companies from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays upped their target price on Interpublic Group of Companies from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Interpublic Group of Companies from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Interpublic Group of Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Christopher F. Carroll sold 18,382 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total transaction of $591,900.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 42,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,364,958. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Christopher F. Carroll sold 18,382 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total transaction of $591,900.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 42,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,364,958. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrew Bonzani sold 40,468 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total value of $1,303,069.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,267,878.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 249,646 shares of company stock valued at $8,038,601 in the last ninety days. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Interpublic Group of Companies 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.