West Oak Capital LLC Reduces Stake in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

West Oak Capital LLC lessened its position in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 96.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 53,015 shares during the quarter. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $60,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,844,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $943,993,000 after purchasing an additional 3,920,975 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 2.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,426,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $393,064,000 after buying an additional 270,857 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 0.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,449,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $298,107,000 after buying an additional 81,265 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 13.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,842,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $199,063,000 after acquiring an additional 828,150 shares during the period. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 5,710,448 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $166,117,000 after acquiring an additional 193,898 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

NYSE IPG traded down $0.84 during trading on Friday, hitting $26.69. 6,783,747 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,385,625. The company has a market capitalization of $9.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.59 and a beta of 1.11. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.60 and a 12-month high of $35.17. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.70. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 7.44% and a return on equity of 27.76%. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. Interpublic Group of Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.95%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s payout ratio is 62.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IPG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays decreased their target price on Interpublic Group of Companies from $32.50 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Saturday, January 4th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group lowered Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Interpublic Group of Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.50.

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.