Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. Invests $767,000 in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 23,509 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $767,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,722,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $278,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204,630 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 24.6% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,635,459 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $132,852,000 after buying an additional 916,574 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 212.9% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 827,224 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $23,708,000 after buying an additional 562,823 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC increased its holdings in Interpublic Group of Companies by 1,439,200.0% in the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 503,755 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,443,000 after buying an additional 503,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the third quarter worth about $14,408,000. 98.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Philippe Krakowsky sold 150,403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total transaction of $4,842,976.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 415,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,387,987.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Interpublic Group of Companies news, CEO Philippe Krakowsky sold 150,403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total value of $4,842,976.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 415,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,387,987.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Christopher F. Carroll sold 18,382 shares of Interpublic Group of Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total value of $591,900.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 42,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,364,958. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 249,646 shares of company stock worth $8,038,601 over the last ninety days. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays increased their price target on Interpublic Group of Companies from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Interpublic Group of Companies from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Interpublic Group of Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.13.

Interpublic Group of Companies Price Performance

IPG stock traded down $0.99 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $30.44. 3,673,991 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,072,056. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.20 and a 52-week high of $40.95. The company has a market cap of $11.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.83, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $31.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 29.70% and a net margin of 9.97%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This is an increase from Interpublic Group of Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Interpublic Group of Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 46.98%.

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.