Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Acquires 78 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,381 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $2,680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 3.4% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 292,436 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in S&P Global by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,589,982 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,273,264,000 after purchasing an additional 116,208 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in S&P Global in the 4th quarter worth about $1,725,084,000. Amundi raised its position in S&P Global by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,345,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,162,979,000 after purchasing an additional 145,434 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 62,770 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on S&P Global from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $590.86.

S&P Global Price Performance

NYSE SPGI opened at $510.66 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $160.26 billion, a PE ratio of 41.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 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 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 50 day moving average price is $515.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $509.96.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This is an increase from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. S&P Global’s payout ratio is currently 31.09%.

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.