Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Boosts Stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 6.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 163,498 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,032 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.05% of S&P Global worth $83,073,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 116,208 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,725,084,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,631,568,000 after purchasing an additional 525,347 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 357,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of S&P Global stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.43, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 8.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SPGI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on S&P Global from $618.00 to $565.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on S&P Global from $616.00 to $589.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho began coverage on S&P Global in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $599.00 target price for the company. Finally, Argus raised shares of S&P Global to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, S&P Global has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $592.71.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SPGI traded down $1.68 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $521.29. The company had a trading volume of 1,033,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,233,609. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $503.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $503.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. S&P Global Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $427.14 and a fifty-two week high of $545.39.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.01 EPS. S&P Global's revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.16%.

About S&P Global

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.