Alps Advisors Inc. Grows Stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,047 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc.'s holdings in S&P Global were worth $5,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SPGI. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of S&P Global by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,176 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,582,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. GHE LLC grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in S&P Global by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $619,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in S&P Global by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,855 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,916,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

S&P Global Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of S&P Global stock traded down $2.78 on Friday, hitting $527.05. 816,683 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,229,109. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $515.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $505.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $427.14 and a 52 week high of $545.39. The company has a market cap of $161.65 billion, a PE ratio of 41.40, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.19.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.72 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The company's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.01 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target 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. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on S&P Global from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on S&P Global from $567.00 to $592.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Argus upgraded S&P Global to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $596.79.

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.