Ethos Financial Group LLC Acquires 43 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Ethos Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 641 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SPGI. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth $527,207,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of S&P Global by 71,024.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 619,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $308,525,000 after purchasing an additional 618,620 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the third quarter worth $224,976,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of S&P Global by 6.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,965,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,081,830,000 after purchasing an additional 369,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth $144,091,000. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Trading Down 1.7 %

SPGI stock opened at $514.13 on Friday. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $515.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $511.48. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $407.69 and a 52 week high of $545.39. The company has a market capitalization of $158.25 billion, a PE ratio of 41.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 EPS 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 prior year, the firm earned $3.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This is an increase from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is 31.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SPGI. StockNews.com downgraded shares of S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $590.23.

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.