abrdn plc Boosts Stock Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

abrdn plc increased its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 20.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 454,487 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 76,311 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $200,211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SPGI. BCK Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global in the 1st quarter worth about $1,969,000. Markel Corp lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 0.8% during the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 149,790 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 1.6% during the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $919,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 115.4% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $883,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 12.4% during the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 736 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other S&P Global news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $424.74, for a total value of $2,548,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 162,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,032,992.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on SPGI. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of S&P Global in a report on Friday, February 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on S&P Global from $480.00 to $483.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on S&P Global from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on S&P Global from $422.00 to $452.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, S&P Global currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $462.00.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of SPGI stock traded down $0.81 during trading on Friday, hitting $412.56. The company had a trading volume of 1,138,654 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,166,407. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $424.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $415.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.15. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $338.92 and a 52 week high of $461.16.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The business services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.15 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 11.34% and a net margin of 21.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.54 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.23%.

About S&P Global

S&P Global Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and workflow solutions in the global capital, commodity, and automotive markets. It operates through S&P Global Market Intelligence, S&P Global Ratings, S&P Global Commodity Insights, S&P Global Mobility, S&P Dow Jones Indices, and S&P Global Engineering Solutions segments.