DAVENPORT & Co LLC Increases Stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 4.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,603 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC's holdings in S&P Global were worth $9,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SPGI. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $18,799,000 after purchasing an additional 6,051 shares during the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth about $14,040,000. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 11,499 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,727,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in S&P Global by 20.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,210 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,139,000 after acquiring an additional 708 shares during the period. Finally, Coalescence Partners Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in S&P Global by 62.7% during the 4th quarter. Coalescence Partners Investment Management LP now owns 30,089 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $14,985,000 after acquiring an additional 11,599 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on SPGI. 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 report on Wednesday. Argus raised shares of S&P Global to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of S&P Global from $618.00 to $565.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $627.00 to $632.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $593.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of S&P Global stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were 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 directly owned 5,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,619,016.33. This trade represents a 8.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

S&P Global Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:SPGI traded up $5.38 during trading on Friday, hitting $531.02. The stock had a trading volume of 578,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,233,475. The company has a market capitalization of $162.86 billion, a PE ratio of 41.71, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.19. 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 firm's fifty day moving average is $512.34 and its 200 day moving average is $504.30. S&P Global Inc. has a 12 month low of $427.14 and a 12 month 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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.01 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. S&P Global's payout ratio is currently 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.