Maple Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Maple Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 117 shares during the quarter. S&P Global makes up 1.6% of Maple Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Maple Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $21,067,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 618,620 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in S&P Global in the third quarter worth approximately $224,976,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,965,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,081,830,000 after acquiring an additional 369,598 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the 4th quarter worth approximately $144,091,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 3.4% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of 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, Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $590.23.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of SPGI stock opened at $534.09 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $513.75 and its 200 day moving average is $510.67. S&P Global Inc. has a 1-year low of $407.69 and a 1-year high of $545.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $164.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.25, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

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, 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 in the prior year, the business posted $3.13 EPS. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.09%.

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.