Baird Financial Group Inc. Lowers Position in S&P Global Inc. $SPGI

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in S&P Global by 0.6%, owning approximately 265,001 shares valued at $134.65 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Equities analysts have increased their price targets for S&P Global, with estimates ranging from $615 to $660, reflecting strong confidence in the company's performance.
• S&P Global recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.96 per share, representing a 0.7% yield and a payout ratio of 29.54%.

Baird Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 265,001 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,669 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned 0.09% of S&P Global worth $134,647,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,176 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,582,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 74,479 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $37,093,000 after acquiring an additional 2,413 shares during the last quarter. GHE LLC grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 13,504 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,725,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 36,404 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $18,130,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SPGI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus raised S&P Global to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on S&P Global from $632.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on S&P Global from $595.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Barclays increased their target price on S&P Global from $610.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on S&P Global from $567.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, S&P Global currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $611.69.

S&P Global Stock Performance

S&P Global stock traded up $1.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $548.61. 886,915 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,134,315. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.49 billion, a PE ratio of 42.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. S&P Global Inc. has a 12-month low of $427.14 and a 12-month high of $579.05. The business's 50-day moving average is $539.66 and its 200-day moving average is $514.53.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $4.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.65 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 15.11% and a net margin of 27.30%.S&P Global's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.04 earnings per share. S&P Global has set its FY 2025 guidance at 17.000-17.250 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be given a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio is 29.54%.

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.