Czech National Bank Acquires 3,509 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Czech National Bank grew its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 5.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,350 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,509 shares during the period. Czech National Bank's holdings in S&P Global were worth $36,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in S&P Global by 1.0% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 597,469 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $303,574,000 after purchasing an additional 6,194 shares in the last quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 2,811 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,433,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in S&P Global by 4.5% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,393 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,232,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. raised its position in S&P Global by 1.4% during the first quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,366 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,775,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC raised its position in S&P Global by 1.2% during the first quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,657 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,350,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on SPGI. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of 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 increased their target price on shares of S&P Global from $555.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on S&P Global from $618.00 to $565.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $592.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,131 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,619,016.33. The trade was a 8.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

S&P Global Stock Performance

S&P Global stock traded up $2.62 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $516.56. The company had a trading volume of 318,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,346,193. 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 firm has a market cap of $158.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.83, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50 day moving average of $492.47 and a 200-day moving average of $504.04. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $425.49 and a 52 week 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.23 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.72 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 14.33%. The firm's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.01 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.16%.

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.