Private Trust Co. NA Boosts Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,755 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the quarter. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $1,870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of S&P Global by 3.4% during the third 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 buying an additional 292,436 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of S&P Global by 1.8% during the third 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 increased its stake in shares of S&P Global by 6.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,965,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,081,830,000 after buying an additional 369,598 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of S&P Global by 1.1% during the third 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 valued at $1,401,909,000 after buying an additional 28,458 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of S&P Global by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,936,697 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,000,536,000 after buying an additional 26,300 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

S&P Global Stock Down 0.7 %

SPGI opened at $525.77 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $161.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $512.90 and its 200 day moving average is $510.33. S&P Global Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $407.69 and a fifty-two week high of $545.39.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced 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 return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 27.12%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.13 EPS. On average, sell-side 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. This is an increase from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on S&P Global from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com cut S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on 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, 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $590.23.

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.