KBC Group NV Increases Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

KBC Group NV grew its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 16.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 300,065 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 42,952 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned about 0.10% of S&P Global worth $155,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dupont Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in S&P Global by 27.1% in the first quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 28,249 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $12,019,000 after acquiring an additional 6,025 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP increased its position in S&P Global by 32.3% during the 1st quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 2,893 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,231,000 after buying an additional 706 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its position in S&P Global by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 3,570 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,519,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in S&P Global in the first quarter worth about $228,000. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 1.0% during the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 3,077 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,309,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

S&P Global Price Performance

NYSE SPGI traded up $1.76 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $512.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 366,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,207,550. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.18. The company's 50-day moving average is $510.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $477.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. S&P Global Inc. has a 1-year low of $401.58 and a 1-year high of $533.29.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.25. S&P Global had a return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 25.80%. The business had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.21 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.25 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. S&P Global's payout ratio is 32.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on SPGI shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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 report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $564.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on S&P Global from $536.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on S&P Global from $605.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $571.31.

S&P Global Company Profile

S&P Global Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and workflow solutions in the global capital, commodity, and automotive markets. It operates through S&P Global Market Intelligence, S&P Global Ratings, S&P Global Commodity Insights, S&P Global Mobility, S&P Dow Jones Indices, and S&P Global Engineering Solutions segments.