Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Purchases New Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 106,756 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $53,168,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SPGI. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in S&P Global by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,589,982 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,273,264,000 after buying an additional 116,208 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in S&P Global in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,725,084,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in S&P Global by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,276,043 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,631,568,000 after buying an additional 525,347 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in S&P Global by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,071,407 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,529,653,000 after buying an additional 357,790 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,345,377 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,162,979,000 after purchasing an additional 145,434 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SPGI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on S&P Global from $607.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America initiated coverage on S&P Global in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered S&P Global from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Argus raised S&P Global to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on S&P Global from $618.00 to $565.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, S&P Global currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $592.71.

Insider Activity at S&P Global

In related news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.43, for a total value of $255,215.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,131 shares in the company, valued at $2,619,016.33. This trade represents a 8.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of SPGI stock traded down $1.42 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $512.68. 2,142,178 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,221,536. The stock's 50-day moving average is $492.04 and its 200-day moving average is $503.84. 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 stock has a market cap of $157.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $424.82 and a 52 week high of $545.39.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.23 by $0.14. The company 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 for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.01 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be issued a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio is 30.16%.

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.