Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 3,463,815 S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Norges Bank bought a new position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,463,815 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,725,084,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.12% of S&P Global at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SPGI. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $527,207,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in S&P Global by 71,024.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 619,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $308,525,000 after buying an additional 618,620 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in S&P Global during the fourth quarter valued at $144,091,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position 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 valued at $4,581,580,000 after buying an additional 292,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in S&P Global by 52.9% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 720,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $358,839,000 after purchasing an additional 249,242 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of SPGI stock opened at $507.99 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $156.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.13, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $515.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $510.31.

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, 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.13 earnings per share. Analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SPGI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup began coverage on S&P Global in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $590.86.

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.