Longview Partners Guernsey LTD Trims Stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Longview Partners Guernsey LTD lowered its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,192,653 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 50,367 shares during the period. S&P Global comprises 4.4% of Longview Partners Guernsey LTD's portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD owned 0.38% of S&P Global worth $593,977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Global Endowment Management LP bought a new stake in S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth $1,023,000. Zacks Investment Management lifted its position in shares of S&P Global by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 638 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 88.6% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 197,270 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $98,246,000 after purchasing an additional 92,650 shares during the last quarter. Acorns Advisers LLC bought a new stake in S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at about $205,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC raised its stake in S&P Global by 85.4% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 3,855 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,920,000 after buying an additional 1,776 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SPGI shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho began coverage on S&P Global in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $599.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $591.86.

S&P Global Stock Up 3.1 %

NYSE:SPGI traded up $13.90 on Tuesday, reaching $462.89. 415,216 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,240,345. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $497.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $504.02. The company has a market capitalization of $145.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.51, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.26. 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 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.36. S&P Global had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 27.12%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.13 EPS. Equities analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from S&P Global's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. S&P Global's payout ratio is currently 31.09%.

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.