Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC Makes New $8.51 Million Investment in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 16,749 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,510,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on SPGI. Oppenheimer raised their target price on S&P Global from $567.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on S&P Global from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Argus upgraded S&P Global to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on S&P Global from $616.00 to $589.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $596.79.

S&P Global Price Performance

SPGI traded up $2.38 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $528.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 273,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,230,303. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $514.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $504.94. S&P Global Inc. has a 1 year low of $427.14 and a 1 year high of $545.39. The company has a market cap of $162.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.53, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.19.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.23 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.72 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.01 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 value of $255,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,619,016.33. This trade represents a 8.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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.