Merit Financial Group LLC Has $296,000 Stake in Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,420 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Omnicom Group were worth $296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of OMC. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Omnicom Group by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,745,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $353,437,000 after acquiring an additional 374,874 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Omnicom Group by 21.7% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,727,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $277,726,000 after purchasing an additional 664,800 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Omnicom Group by 98.3% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,032,265 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $225,842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503,249 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Omnicom Group by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,590,980 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $192,976,000 after buying an additional 301,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Omnicom Group by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,894,753 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $141,121,000 after buying an additional 58,943 shares in the last quarter. 91.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Omnicom Group Price Performance

Shares of OMC opened at $95.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.62 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company’s 50-day moving average is $93.12 and its 200-day moving average is $87.14. Omnicom Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.20 and a fifty-two week high of $99.23.

Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4 billion. Omnicom Group had a return on equity of 38.23% and a net margin of 9.96%. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Omnicom Group Inc. will post 7.81 EPS for the current year.

Omnicom Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Omnicom Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on OMC. Macquarie raised their price objective on Omnicom Group from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price target on Omnicom Group from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com raised Omnicom Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Omnicom Group from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Omnicom Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $91.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Omnicom Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Linda Johnson Rice sold 453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.68, for a total value of $41,984.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $911,044.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Omnicom Group Company Profile

Omnicom Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers advertising, marketing, and corporate communications services. It provides a range of services in the areas of advertising and media, precision marketing, commerce and branding, experiential, execution and support, public relations, and healthcare.