Avestar Capital LLC Has $1.15 Million Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Avestar Capital LLC raised its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 18.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $1,148,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SPGI. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in S&P Global by 3.4% during the third 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. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,473,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,332,016,000 after buying an additional 113,146 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position 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 worth $3,081,830,000 after buying an additional 369,598 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of S&P Global by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,713,617 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,401,909,000 after acquiring an additional 28,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of S&P Global by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,936,697 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,000,536,000 after acquiring an additional 26,300 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

S&P Global Stock Down 1.8 %

S&P Global stock opened at $530.93 on Thursday. S&P Global Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $407.69 and a fifty-two week high of $542.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $506.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $506.53. The stock has a market cap of $164.75 billion, a PE ratio of 46.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $3.13 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.34 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is 32.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of S&P Global from $605.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on S&P Global from $564.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, 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 research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $586.85.

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.