Candriam S.C.A. Decreases Stock Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Candriam S.C.A. reduced its position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 124,236 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 885 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $61,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SPGI. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth $527,207,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in S&P Global by 71,024.1% in the fourth 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. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in S&P Global in the third quarter valued at $224,976,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in S&P Global by 6.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,965,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,081,830,000 after acquiring an additional 369,598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at $144,091,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. 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, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, S&P Global currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $590.23.

S&P Global Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of S&P Global stock opened at $523.27 on Thursday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $514.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $511.46. The firm has a market cap of $161.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 14.33%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $0.96 per share. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.09%.

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.