D.A. Davidson & CO. Cuts Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lessened its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 111,242 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 437 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $55,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in S&P Global in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in S&P Global by 77.1% in the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 62 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SPGI opened at $539.77 on Tuesday. S&P Global Inc. has a one year low of $407.69 and a one year high of $545.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.64, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $507.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $507.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted 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 return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 25.80%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.34 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. 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 (DPR) is 32.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SPGI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on S&P Global from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of S&P Global from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of S&P Global in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $587.92.

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.