Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Buys 595 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. increased its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 85.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,288 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 595 shares during the quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPGI. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 52.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 658,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $328,632,000 after purchasing an additional 225,370 shares in the last quarter. GDS Wealth Management lifted its position in S&P Global by 7.0% during the third quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 27,358 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in S&P Global by 12.6% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 27,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,198,000 after buying an additional 3,093 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank increased its holdings in S&P Global by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 50,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,980,000 after buying an additional 1,530 shares during the period. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,170,000. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup started coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $590.23.

S&P Global Stock Performance

S&P Global stock opened at $534.09 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $513.75 and a 200-day moving average of $510.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. S&P Global Inc. has a 1 year low of $407.69 and a 1 year high of $545.39. The company has a market capitalization of $164.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.25, a P/E/G 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 earnings per share (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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 yield of 0.72%. S&P Global’s payout ratio is presently 31.09%.

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.