Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Grows Stock Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 12.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 198,905 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,183 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $99,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SPGI. Headinvest LLC lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 2.0% during the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 997 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $515,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. EWA LLC lifted its position in S&P Global by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 498 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in S&P Global by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $788,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in S&P Global by 2.0% in 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 period. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its position in S&P Global by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 674 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SPGI opened at $502.33 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $515.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $510.21. S&P Global Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $407.69 and a fifty-two week high of $545.39. The company has a market cap of $157.65 billion, a PE ratio of 40.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. This is an increase from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. S&P Global’s payout ratio is 31.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SPGI. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com lowered S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Evercore ISI increased 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 lifted their price objective on S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $590.86.

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.