Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC Increases Stock Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 28.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $1,016,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of S&P Global by 174,815.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 467,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $241,274,000 after purchasing an additional 466,757 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in S&P Global in the 3rd quarter valued at about $224,976,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 369,598 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth approximately $144,091,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in S&P Global by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,868,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,581,580,000 after buying an additional 292,436 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

S&P Global Stock Performance

NYSE:SPGI opened at $542.44 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $506.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $506.53. S&P Global Inc. has a 1-year low of $407.69 and a 1-year high of $542.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.88, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 25.80% and a return on equity of 13.72%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.13 EPS. Analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.34 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is 32.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer decreased 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. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on S&P Global from $536.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of S&P Global from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of S&P Global from $600.00 to $585.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $587.92.

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.