Bell Investment Advisors Inc Sells 61 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Bell Investment Advisors Inc lessened its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 621 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 61 shares during the quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $309,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SPGI. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of S&P Global during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of S&P Global during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of S&P Global during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of S&P Global during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 94.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 70 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SPGI opened at $497.35 on Monday. S&P Global Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $407.69 and a fifty-two week high of $545.39. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $515.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $511.68. The company has a market capitalization of $153.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share 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 in the prior year, the business earned $3.13 earnings per share. 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 declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is an increase from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SPGI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on S&P Global from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com cut S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. 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 note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price 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. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, S&P Global presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $590.23.

About S&P Global

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.