Baird Financial Group Inc. Increases Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 266,670 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,966 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of S&P Global worth $132,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its position in shares of S&P Global by 131.0% in the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 67 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in S&P Global by 700.0% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 72 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.43, for a total transaction of $255,215.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,619,016.33. The trade was a 8.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

S&P Global Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE SPGI traded up $4.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $505.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,064,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,223,134. S&P Global Inc. has a 12 month low of $419.49 and a 12 month high of $545.39. The stock has a market cap of $155.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $487.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $501.72.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.23 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.72 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 27.12%. The business's revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.01 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 28th. S&P Global's payout ratio is currently 30.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on SPGI. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on S&P Global from $618.00 to $565.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho started coverage on S&P Global in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $599.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of S&P Global from $555.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, S&P Global has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $592.71.

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.