Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Sells 563 Shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) by 3.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 563 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies were worth $539,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 85.6% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 229,511 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,491,000 after acquiring an additional 105,858 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 860,103 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,074,000 after purchasing an additional 302,664 shares during the period. Cowen AND Company LLC bought a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $871,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp raised its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 305.6% in the first quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 54,129 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,766,000 after purchasing an additional 40,785 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $32,620,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on IPG shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Interpublic Group of Companies from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.00.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE IPG opened at $28.57 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $10.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.17, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50 day moving average of $30.59 and a 200-day moving average of $31.64. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.20 and a 1-year high of $40.90.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 29.70% and a net margin of 9.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.62%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s payout ratio is 46.98%.

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.