Allianz SE Invests $8.35 Million in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Allianz SE acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 16,757 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,345,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,725,084,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $527,207,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 71,024.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 619,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $308,525,000 after buying an additional 618,620 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth $144,091,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in S&P Global by 3.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,868,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,581,580,000 after acquiring an additional 292,436 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of SPGI stock opened at $502.33 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $515.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $510.21. S&P Global Inc. has a 1 year low of $407.69 and a 1 year high of $545.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $157.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.36. S&P Global had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 27.12%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.13 EPS. On average, research 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.96 per share. 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 0.76%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SPGI shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup assumed coverage on S&P Global in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $590.86.

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.