OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Purchases 2,640 Shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its position in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 19.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,640 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in IPG. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 75.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. GeoWealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 3,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the period. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $102,000. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $141,000. Institutional investors own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total transaction of $574,672.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 143,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,845,263.86. The trade was a 13.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on IPG. Argus downgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $39.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Monday, May 12th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Interpublic Group of Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.44.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE IPG opened at $25.48 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $25.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.42 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92 and a beta of 1.09. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.51 and a 52 week high of $33.05.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 27.10%. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.98 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $155.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.