Franklin Resources Inc. Has $599.41 Million Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,203,561 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 32,248 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.39% of S&P Global worth $599,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in S&P Global by 52.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 658,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $328,632,000 after buying an additional 225,370 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 12.6% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 27,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,198,000 after acquiring an additional 3,093 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank increased its position in S&P Global by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 50,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $24,980,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its stake in S&P Global by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 37,746 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,799,000 after purchasing an additional 6,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in S&P Global in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,170,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on SPGI. StockNews.com cut shares of S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup initiated coverage on S&P Global in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho started 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. UBS Group increased their target price on S&P Global from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $590.86.

S&P Global Stock Up 1.2 %

SPGI stock opened at $508.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $515.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $510.02. S&P Global Inc. has a 12 month low of $407.69 and a 12 month 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 stock has a market capitalization of $159.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 27.12% and a return on equity of 14.33%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. This is a boost from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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.