S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) Shares Sold by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd reduced its position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 18.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 489,044 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 107,613 shares during the period. S&P Global accounts for about 1.1% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned approximately 0.16% of S&P Global worth $243,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SPGI. Kanawha Capital Management LLC grew its position in S&P Global by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 12,827 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,388,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187 shares during the period. Campbell Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth $314,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 6,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,200,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of S&P Global by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 18,368 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in S&P Global by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of SPGI opened at $542.44 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.88, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $506.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $506.53. S&P Global Inc. has a twelve month low of $407.69 and a twelve month high of $542.77. 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 posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 25.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.13 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.34 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 paid a $0.96 dividend. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on SPGI. 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 research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective 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. 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 note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on S&P Global from $536.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on S&P Global from $605.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, S&P Global has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $587.92.

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.