Kentucky Retirement Systems Lowers Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 303 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in S&P Global were worth $10,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPGI. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 292,436 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,473,774 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,332,016,000 after acquiring an additional 113,146 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,965,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,081,830,000 after acquiring an additional 369,598 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 1.1% during 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 worth $1,401,909,000 after acquiring an additional 28,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,936,697 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,000,536,000 after acquiring an additional 26,300 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

S&P Global Stock Performance

S&P Global stock opened at $536.21 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $509.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $508.60. 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. The stock has a market cap of $165.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $3.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. This is a boost from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SPGI shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of S&P Global from $600.00 to $585.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $590.23.

About S&P Global

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.