AlphaQuest LLC Increases Stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 31.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,817 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,165 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $2,399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SPGI. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in S&P Global during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of S&P Global in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SPGI shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of 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 downgraded shares of S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of S&P Global in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $590.23.

S&P Global Trading Down 3.3 %

SPGI stock opened at $497.35 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $515.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $511.59. S&P Global Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $407.69 and a fifty-two week high of $545.39. The firm has a market cap of $153.08 billion, a PE ratio of 40.27, 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 issued 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 previous year, the company posted $3.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. This is a boost from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. S&P Global’s 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.