Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Buys 11,824 Shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 1.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 946,822 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,824 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $29,948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 4.4% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 13,635 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $445,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 1st quarter worth $310,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 67,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,196,000 after buying an additional 695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 3.3% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 399,245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,027,000 after buying an additional 12,940 shares during the period. 98.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on IPG. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com raised Interpublic Group of Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.57.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of IPG stock opened at $27.09 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $10.09 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 1.10. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.01 and a 12-month high of $35.17. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.59.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.70. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 27.76% and a net margin of 7.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. Analysts expect that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.26%.

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.