Bell Investment Advisors Inc Sells 61 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Bell Investment Advisors Inc lessened its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 621 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 61 shares during the period. Bell Investment Advisors Inc’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $309,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth $527,207,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 71,024.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 619,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $308,525,000 after acquiring an additional 618,620 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 3rd quarter worth $224,976,000. 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth $144,091,000. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of SPGI opened at $497.35 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $153.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. S&P Global Inc. has a twelve month low of $407.69 and a twelve month high of $545.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a 50 day moving average of $515.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $511.68.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company earned $3.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This is a boost from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SPGI shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, S&P Global presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.