S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) Shares Purchased by Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 60.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,527 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 956 shares during the quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $1,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of S&P Global by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,589,982 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,273,264,000 after acquiring an additional 116,208 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in S&P Global during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,725,084,000. Amundi grew its stake in S&P Global by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,345,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,162,979,000 after purchasing an additional 145,434 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in S&P Global by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,999,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $995,795,000 after purchasing an additional 62,770 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of S&P Global by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,868,814 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $930,725,000 after purchasing an additional 9,880 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised 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 report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on S&P Global from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, S&P Global has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $590.86.

S&P Global Stock Down 7.7 %

S&P Global stock opened at $451.47 on Friday. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $407.69 and a 52 week high of $545.39. The stock has a market cap of $141.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.56, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $513.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $509.23. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $3.13 EPS. On average, analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.96 dividend. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is 31.09%.

S&P Global Company 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.