S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) Shares Sold by Weitz Investment Management Inc.

Weitz Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 47,140 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,085 shares during the quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $23,477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of S&P Global by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 658,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $328,632,000 after acquiring an additional 225,370 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 27,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,198,000 after purchasing an additional 3,093 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its stake in S&P Global by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 50,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $24,980,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 37,746 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,799,000 after buying an additional 6,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the third quarter valued at about $27,170,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SPGI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Mizuho started coverage on S&P Global in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $590.86.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of SPGI opened at $510.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $515.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $509.96. The stock 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 1-year low of $407.69 and a 1-year high of $545.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 posted $3.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. This is a positive change 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 yield of 0.75%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.