Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 252 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. S&P Global makes up about 0.9% of Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $5,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SPGI. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in S&P Global by 52.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 658,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $328,632,000 after purchasing an additional 225,370 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 3,093 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank raised its stake in S&P Global by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 50,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,980,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its stake in S&P Global by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 37,746 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,799,000 after purchasing an additional 6,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in S&P Global in the third quarter valued at about $27,170,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SPGI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho initiated coverage on S&P Global in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup initiated 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. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $590.86.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SPGI opened at $497.62 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. S&P Global Inc. has a twelve month low of $407.69 and a twelve month high of $545.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $513.85 and its 200-day moving average is $510.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.29, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the business earned $3.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.96 dividend. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date 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.