New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Trims Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board trimmed its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,286 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $7,613,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SPGI. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in S&P Global by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 74,479 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $37,093,000 after purchasing an additional 2,413 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in S&P Global by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,444 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,213,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in S&P Global by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 12,827 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187 shares in the last quarter. Campbell Wealth Management purchased a new position in S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth about $314,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in S&P Global by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 6,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,200,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SPGI has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of S&P Global from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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 report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $605.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, S&P Global currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $587.92.

S&P Global Stock Down 0.5 %

SPGI stock opened at $539.77 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $506.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $506.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.49 billion, a PE ratio of 47.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. S&P Global Inc. has a 12 month low of $407.69 and a 12 month high of $545.39. 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 (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 25.80% and a return on equity of 13.72%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.13 EPS. Equities analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.13%.

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.