Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. Has $247.03 Million Holdings in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,816,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,357 shares during the quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd.’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $247,034,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 39.3% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,991 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $60,000. Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $215,000. Bridgewater Associates LP raised its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 956.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 104,734 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,313,000 after buying an additional 94,821 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 9.1% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 954,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,197,000 after acquiring an additional 79,404 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Interpublic Group of Companies news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total value of $574,672.14. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 143,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,845,263.86. The trade was a 13.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Interpublic Group of Companies Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of IPG stock opened at $26.29 on Friday. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.85 and a 52-week high of $33.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.94. 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 company has a market capitalization of $9.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.37 and a beta of 1.14.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.11 EPS 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%. Research analysts anticipate that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $155.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s payout ratio is 72.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus downgraded 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 boosted their price target for the company from $32.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $34.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.50.

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.