Aurora Investment Counsel Has $401,000 Stock Holdings in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Aurora Investment Counsel trimmed its position in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,307 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 418 shares during the quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of IPG. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 31,648 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after buying an additional 3,499 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 48.8% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 41,258 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,305,000 after acquiring an additional 13,537 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 298.4% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after acquiring an additional 26,360 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the 3rd quarter worth $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on IPG shares. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays upgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Argus lowered shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.50.

Interpublic Group of Companies Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock opened at $26.11 on Friday. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.97 and a 1 year high of $35.17. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.36. The company has a market cap of $9.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.04). Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 27.10%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.06%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 72.13%.

Interpublic Group of Companies announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $155.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 1.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Interpublic Group of Companies

In other news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the business’s 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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.