Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 8,873 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp reduced its stake in S&P Global Inc. by 3.6%, selling 8,873 shares during the first quarter, leaving them with 234,834 shares valued at approximately $119.3 million.
• S&P Global reported $4.43 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and has a market capitalization of $167.11 billion.
• Several brokerages have raised their price forecasts for S&P Global, with wells Fargo increasing the price target to $660, reflecting strong analyst confidence in the stock's future performance.

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lessened its holdings in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 234,834 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 8,873 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned approximately 0.08% of S&P Global worth $119,319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SPGI. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in S&P Global during the first quarter worth about $28,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in S&P Global by 103.3% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 61 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in S&P Global in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

S&P Global Trading Up 3.1%

SPGI traded up $16.89 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $562.55. 1,714,224 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,296,904. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $520.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $509.18. S&P Global Inc. has a 1-year low of $427.14 and a 1-year high of $563.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 15.11% and a net margin of 27.30%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be paid 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SPGI. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $604.00 to $621.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on S&P Global from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on S&P Global from $632.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, S&P Global currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $611.69.

S&P Global 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.