West Oak Capital LLC Sells 53,015 Shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

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

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in IPG. State Street Corp grew its holdings in 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. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 571.7% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,466,376 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,657,000 after buying an additional 1,248,062 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 19.8% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,436,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $158,157,000 after buying an additional 899,332 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 13.8% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 168.3% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 831,434 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,186,000 after acquiring an additional 521,546 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of IPG traded down $0.84 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $26.69. The company had a trading volume of 6,783,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,385,625. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $26.60 and a one year high of $35.17. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $29.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.11. The company has a market capitalization of $9.94 billion, a PE ratio of 12.59 and a beta of 1.11. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.70. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 7.44% and a return on equity of 27.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IPG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. 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. 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 research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $26.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $29.00 in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.