Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 37,011 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 528,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,011 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.17% of S&P Global worth $263,362,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SPGI. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in S&P Global during the 4th quarter valued at $201,000. Katamaran Capital LLP acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth about $3,728,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth about $49,407,000. Lynwood Price Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth about $6,126,000. Finally, Prudential PLC grew its stake in S&P Global by 69.6% in the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 52,618 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,205,000 after buying an additional 21,588 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on SPGI. Citigroup started coverage on S&P Global in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $590.86.

S&P Global Stock Down 7.7 %

Shares of NYSE SPGI opened at $451.47 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $513.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $509.32. 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 company 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 (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, analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a boost from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. 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.