Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Buys 65 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 921 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in S&P Global during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in S&P Global in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its position in shares of S&P Global by 77.1% during the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 62 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 94.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 70 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SPGI shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of S&P Global from $600.00 to $585.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, S&P Global presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $590.23.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of SPGI opened at $533.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $164.07 billion, a PE ratio of 43.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $510.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $509.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share 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 last year, the company posted $3.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is 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 29.47%.

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.