Victory Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 269,609 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 23,554 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $134,273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 3.4% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 292,436 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in S&P Global by 1.8% in 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 lifted its position in 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in 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 worth $1,401,909,000 after buying an additional 28,458 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of S&P Global by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,999,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $995,795,000 after acquiring an additional 62,770 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of S&P Global stock opened at $523.27 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $514.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $511.46. S&P Global Inc. has a 1 year low of $407.69 and a 1 year high of $545.39. The firm has a market cap of $161.06 billion, a PE ratio of 42.37, 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.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm earned $3.13 earnings per share. Equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors 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 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This is an increase from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on SPGI shares. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of S&P Global in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. 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 research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, S&P Global currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.