S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) Shares Sold by Avalon Trust Co

Avalon Trust Co lessened its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 19.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 339 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 83 shares during the quarter. Avalon Trust Co’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth approximately $527,207,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in S&P Global by 71,024.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 619,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $308,525,000 after buying an additional 618,620 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in S&P Global during the third quarter worth approximately $224,976,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 369,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth approximately $144,091,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SPGI shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of S&P Global in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $590.86.

S&P Global Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SPGI opened at $486.67 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $513.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $510.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. S&P Global Inc. has a 12-month low of $407.69 and a 12-month high of $545.39.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released 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 net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 14.33%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is an increase from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.09%.

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.