Sowell Financial Services LLC Invests $470,000 in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 925 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $470,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in S&P Global by 0.8% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 84,964 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $43,171,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP increased its position in S&P Global by 4.4% in the first quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 4,549 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,311,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Columbus Macro LLC increased its position in S&P Global by 2.4% in the first quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 10,470 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,320,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Stewardship Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in S&P Global in the first quarter worth about $219,000. Finally, D Orazio & Associates Inc. increased its position in S&P Global by 14.7% in the first quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 794 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on SPGI shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho began coverage on S&P Global in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $599.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on S&P Global from $616.00 to $589.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on S&P Global in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $592.71.

S&P Global Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:SPGI traded up $1.22 during trading on Friday, hitting $503.85. 2,078,049 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,230,529. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $427.14 and a 52 week high of $545.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $154.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $501.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $503.33.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.23 by $0.14. S&P Global had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 27.27%. The business had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.01 EPS. S&P Global's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th were paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 28th. S&P Global's payout ratio is 30.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at S&P Global

In other S&P Global news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.43, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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.