Sterling Investment Management LLC Buys 1,705 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Sterling Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 31.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,085 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,705 shares during the quarter. S&P Global comprises 2.6% of Sterling Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Sterling Investment Management LLC's holdings in S&P Global were worth $3,600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPGI. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its stake in S&P Global by 19.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth $14,040,000. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of S&P Global by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 11,499 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,727,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of S&P Global by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 153,466 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $77,009,000 after acquiring an additional 1,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of S&P Global by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,033 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other S&P Global news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.43, for a total transaction of $255,215.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,131 shares in the company, valued at $2,619,016.33. This trade represents a 8.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

S&P Global Price Performance

NYSE SPGI traded down $8.04 on Thursday, reaching $505.94. 1,321,399 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,221,074. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $494.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $504.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $155.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.23 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.72 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 27.12%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.01 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th were issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio is 30.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on S&P Global from $616.00 to $589.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group upped their price objective on S&P Global from $555.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on S&P Global from $607.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Argus raised S&P Global to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $592.71.

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.