Key Financial Inc Sells 90 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Key Financial Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 487 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 90 shares during the quarter. Key Financial Inc’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $243,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in S&P Global by 163.5% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 224 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in S&P Global by 11.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 871,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $450,280,000 after purchasing an additional 92,115 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in S&P Global by 3.2% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 911 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in S&P Global by 23.2% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 610 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN raised its holdings in S&P Global by 1.2% in the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 3,272 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SPGI shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of S&P Global from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, S&P Global currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $590.23.

S&P Global Stock Up 0.6 %

S&P Global stock opened at $543.08 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $168.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. S&P Global Inc. has a 1-year low of $407.69 and a 1-year high of $545.39. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $508.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $508.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.36. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.80% and a return on equity of 13.72%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.13 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This is an increase from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.13%.

S&P Global Company Profile

S&P Global, Inc engages in the provision of transparent and independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and data to the capital and commodity markets worldwide. It operates through the following segments: Market Intelligence, Ratings, Commodity Insights, Mobility, Indices, and Engineering Solutions.