First Trust Advisors LP Has $52.99 Million Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 356.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 106,406 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 83,070 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $52,993,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in S&P Global by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $515,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 674 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of S&P Global by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 108 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Invenio Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Invenio Wealth Partners LLC now owns 574 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in S&P Global by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 532 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SPGI shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Mizuho assumed coverage on S&P Global in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, S&P Global currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.86.

S&P Global Trading Up 4.0 %

SPGI opened at $466.75 on Wednesday. S&P Global Inc. has a twelve month low of $407.69 and a twelve month high of $545.39. The firm has a market cap of $146.49 billion, a PE ratio of 37.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.26. 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 $496.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $503.76.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company earned $3.13 earnings per share. Equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. 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 31.09%.

About S&P Global

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.