Meridian Wealth Management LLC Sells 398 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 398 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $3,337,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 71,024.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 619,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $308,525,000 after buying an additional 618,620 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in S&P Global in the third quarter valued at approximately $224,976,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in S&P Global by 6.6% during 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 period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter valued at $144,091,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake 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 valued at $4,581,580,000 after purchasing an additional 292,436 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on SPGI. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of S&P Global in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $590.23.

S&P Global Price Performance

SPGI stock opened at $528.98 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $514.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $511.20. S&P Global Inc. has a 1 year low of $407.69 and a 1 year high of $545.39. The stock has a market cap of $162.82 billion, a PE ratio of 42.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm earned $3.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. S&P Global’s payout ratio is currently 31.09%.

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.