Sierra Ocean LLC Invests $142,000 in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 285 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $142,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in S&P Global in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 77.1% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 62 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 94.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 70 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Price Performance

NYSE:SPGI opened at $539.77 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $167.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. 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’s 50-day moving average is $507.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $507.26.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.36. S&P Global had a return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 25.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.13 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.34 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group upped their price target on S&P Global from $605.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. 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. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on S&P Global from $536.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, S&P Global currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $587.92.

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.