HM Payson & Co. Buys 1,504 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

HM Payson & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 121,604 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,504 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.'s holdings in S&P Global were worth $61,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SPGI. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 131.0% during the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 67 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in S&P Global in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on S&P Global from $555.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho assumed coverage on S&P Global in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $599.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Argus upgraded S&P Global to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $593.93.

S&P Global Stock Up 1.0%

SPGI stock opened at $531.02 on Friday. 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 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. S&P Global Inc. has a twelve month low of $427.14 and a twelve month high of $545.39. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $512.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $504.30.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.01 earnings per share. S&P Global's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. S&P Global's payout ratio is 30.16%.

Insider Activity at S&P Global

In other S&P Global news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,131 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,619,016.33. This represents a 8.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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.

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