Fmr LLC Sells 71,259 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Fmr LLC cut its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,894,110 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 71,259 shares during the period. Fmr LLC owned about 1.90% of S&P Global worth $2,935,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in S&P Global by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,589,982 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,273,264,000 after purchasing an additional 116,208 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in S&P Global during the 4th quarter valued at $1,725,084,000. Amundi raised its holdings in S&P Global by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,345,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,162,979,000 after buying an additional 145,434 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in S&P Global by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,999,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $995,795,000 after buying an additional 62,770 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in S&P Global by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,868,814 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $930,725,000 after buying an additional 9,880 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of SPGI stock opened at $451.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $141.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.56, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. 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 moving average is $513.70 and its 200 day moving average is $509.23.

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, 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 period last year, the business posted $3.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side 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 was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. This is an increase from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. S&P Global’s payout ratio is presently 31.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SPGI. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. Mizuho assumed coverage on S&P Global in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $590.86.

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.