HM Payson & Co. Acquires 588 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

HM Payson & Co. lifted its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 588 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $59,814,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised 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 valued at $4,581,580,000 after purchasing an additional 292,436 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in S&P Global by 1.8% in 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 buying an additional 113,146 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 1.1% in the 3rd 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 worth $1,401,909,000 after purchasing an additional 28,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,999,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $995,795,000 after purchasing an additional 62,770 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SPGI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of S&P Global in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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 increased 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $590.23.

S&P Global Price Performance

NYSE:SPGI opened at $497.35 on Friday. S&P Global Inc. has a 1-year low of $407.69 and a 1-year high of $545.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $515.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $511.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.08 billion, a PE ratio of 40.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.13 earnings per share. On average, research 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 will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. This is an increase from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.