Valmark Advisers Inc. Takes $320,000 Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Valmark Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 642 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $320,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,868,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,581,580,000 after purchasing an additional 292,436 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in S&P Global by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,473,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,332,016,000 after buying an additional 113,146 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in S&P Global by 6.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,965,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,081,830,000 after buying an additional 369,598 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in S&P Global by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,713,617 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,401,909,000 after buying an additional 28,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in S&P Global by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,936,697 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,000,536,000 after buying an additional 26,300 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SPGI has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of S&P Global from $600.00 to $585.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group upped their price objective on S&P Global from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on S&P Global from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $590.23.

S&P Global Price Performance

SPGI stock opened at $543.08 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $507.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $507.77. S&P Global Inc. has a 12-month low of $407.69 and a 12-month high of $545.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $168.52 billion, a PE ratio of 47.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.36. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.80% and a return on equity of 13.72%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.34 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is 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 (DPR) is currently 32.13%.

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.