Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Interpublic Group of Companies Put Options (NYSE:IPG)

The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders purchased 8,085 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,414% compared to the typical daily volume of 534 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IPG. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies by 73.8% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 883 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 652.2% during the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,038 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Interpublic Group of Companies in the second quarter worth $32,000. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on IPG. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $32.50 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley downgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas downgraded Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (down from $28.00) on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.57.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Down 5.8 %

Shares of IPG stock traded down $1.68 on Friday, hitting $27.52. The stock had a trading volume of 4,778,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,921,896. Interpublic Group of Companies has a 52-week low of $27.09 and a 52-week high of $35.17. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $10.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $30.70 and its 200-day moving average is $30.62.

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, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.70. Interpublic Group of Companies had a return on equity of 27.76% and a net margin of 7.44%. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Interpublic Group of Companies will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Interpublic Group of Companies’s payout ratio is currently 62.26%.

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.