Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Raises Stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 113.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 49,491 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 26,332 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in S&P Global were worth $25,146,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in S&P Global by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 37,746 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $18,799,000 after purchasing an additional 6,051 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,040,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in S&P Global by 20.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,210 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,139,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. Coalescence Partners Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in S&P Global by 62.7% in the fourth quarter. Coalescence Partners Investment Management LP now owns 30,089 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $14,985,000 after purchasing an additional 11,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $300,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SPGI. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on S&P Global from $616.00 to $589.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on S&P Global from $567.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on S&P Global from $618.00 to $565.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on S&P Global in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $599.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $596.79.

S&P Global Stock Performance

NYSE:SPGI traded down $3.87 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $526.31. The stock had a trading volume of 890,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,234,089. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $513.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $504.79. S&P Global Inc. has a 12-month low of $427.14 and a 12-month high of $545.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $161.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.19.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.23 by $0.14. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.72 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.01 EPS. S&P Global's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect 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, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.16%.

Insider Activity

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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.