Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC Raises Stock Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC grew its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,380 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 35 shares during the quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $687,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in S&P Global by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 871,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $450,280,000 after buying an additional 92,115 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $471,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global in the third quarter valued at approximately $334,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 3.2% in the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,013 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $523,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in shares of S&P Global by 7.9% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 2,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,300,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on S&P Global from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on S&P Global in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, S&P Global currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $590.23.

S&P Global Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of SPGI stock opened at $534.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. S&P Global Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $407.69 and a fifty-two week high of $545.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $513.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $510.67.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.36. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 14.33%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.09%.

S&P Global 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.