Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Buys 1,369 Shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its stake in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 91,161 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,369 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $2,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Tobam increased its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 2,340.0% in 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 in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the third quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on IPG. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of 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. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Interpublic Group of Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.13.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:IPG opened at $31.47 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.89 and a 200 day moving average of $31.37. The stock has a market cap of $11.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.13. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 9.97% and a return on equity of 29.70%. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. Interpublic Group of Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Interpublic Group of Companies

In other Interpublic Group of Companies news, CAO Christopher F. Carroll sold 18,382 shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,364,958. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Interpublic Group of Companies news, CAO Christopher F. Carroll sold 18,382 shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,364,958. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Philippe Krakowsky sold 150,403 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $13,387,987.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 249,646 shares of company stock worth $8,038,601 over the last three months. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Interpublic Group of Companies Company 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.