Fisher Funds Management LTD Acquires New Shares in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 8,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,309,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPGI. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 292,436 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 valued at $3,332,016,000 after purchasing an additional 113,146 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in S&P Global by 6.6% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. 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 third 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 purchasing an additional 28,458 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 1.4% during the third 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 buying an additional 26,300 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SPGI shares. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Evercore ISI raised their price target on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, S&P Global has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $590.23.

S&P Global Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SPGI opened at $533.05 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.16, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. S&P Global Inc. has a 1-year low of $407.69 and a 1-year high of $545.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $510.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $509.45.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.36. S&P Global had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 27.12%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 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 paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. 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 yield of 0.72%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.09%.

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.