7,863 Shares in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) Acquired by Picton Mahoney Asset Management

Key Points

• Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in S&P Global Inc., purchasing 7,863 shares valued at approximately $3.99 million during the first quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have given S&P Global a generally positive outlook, with most ratings classified as "buy" and an average price target of $601.07.
• S&P Global reported strong quarterly earnings, with earnings per share of $4.37, surpassing the consensus estimate, as well as a year-over-year revenue increase of 8.2%.

Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,863 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,995,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of S&P Global by 1.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 116,208 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in S&P Global by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,276,043 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,631,568,000 after acquiring an additional 525,347 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in S&P Global by 13.2% during the fourth 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 valued at $1,529,653,000 after acquiring an additional 357,790 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in S&P Global by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,184,312 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,087,853,000 after buying an additional 224,294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 60,982.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,139,101 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,086,877,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135,599 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other S&P Global news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,131 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,619,016.33. This represents a 8.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of S&P Global stock traded down $0.46 on Wednesday, hitting $530.33. 1,263,670 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 853,609. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $427.14 and a 52 week high of $545.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $518.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $508.02.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.23 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.72 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 14.68%. S&P Global's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.01 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on SPGI. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of S&P Global from $616.00 to $589.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of S&P Global in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $587.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of S&P Global from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Two equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, S&P Global presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $601.07.

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.