UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Purchases 777 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp boosted its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 33,770 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 777 shares during the quarter. S&P Global comprises 1.1% of UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $16,819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

S&P Global Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE SPGI opened at $513.83 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $514.89 and its 200 day moving average is $510.33. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $407.69 and a 52 week high of $545.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $158.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.61, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued 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 business earned $3.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SPGI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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, February 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three investment 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $590.86.

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.