Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd Reduces Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd decreased its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 42.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,746 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 12,146 shares during the quarter. S&P Global accounts for approximately 1.2% of Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $8,340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global in the 4th quarter worth $527,207,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in S&P Global by 71,024.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 619,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $308,525,000 after purchasing an additional 618,620 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,965,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,081,830,000 after purchasing an additional 369,598 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter valued at about $144,091,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,868,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,581,580,000 after purchasing an additional 292,436 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SPGI opened at $504.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $155.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $514.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $510.31. 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.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a $0.96 dividend. This is an increase from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. S&P Global’s payout ratio is presently 31.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SPGI. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on S&P Global from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com downgraded S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $590.86.

About S&P Global

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.