S&P Global Inc. $SPGI Holdings Boosted by ProShare Advisors LLC

Key Points

• ProShare Advisors increased its S&P Global position by 4.9% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 447,352 shares valued at approximately $176.5 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 87.17% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly optimistic, with 18 Buy ratings and two Hold ratings. S&P Global has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $522.24.
• S&P Global exceeded quarterly expectations with earnings of $4.58 per share and revenue of $3.68 billion, while revenue rose 6.8% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.97 per share, equivalent to an annualized yield of 0.8%.

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 447,352 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 20,850 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned about 0.15% of S&P Global worth $176,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the 2nd quarter valued at $865,892,000. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of S&P Global in the first quarter worth $702,911,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 260.3% in the first quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 1,688,643 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $718,247,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,990 shares during the period. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in S&P Global in the second quarter worth $338,274,000. Finally, Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd bought a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 2nd quarter valued at $164,700,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SPGI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $489.00 to $521.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on S&P Global from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of S&P Global in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their target price on S&P Global from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research raised S&P Global from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $522.24.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SPGI opened at $466.46 on Friday. S&P Global Inc. has a 12-month low of $381.61 and a 12-month high of $552.25. The company has a market cap of $135.23 billion, a PE ratio of 27.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $421.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $431.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The business services provider reported $4.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.43 by $0.15. S&P Global had a net margin of 32.21% and a return on equity of 19.46%. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.73 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.89 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.97 per share. This represents a $3.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 25th. S&P Global's payout ratio is presently 23.14%.

S&P Global Company Profile

S&P Global NYSE: SPGI is a global provider of financial information, analytics, benchmarks and credit ratings. Its services are used by investors, corporations, governments and other organizations to evaluate risk, assess markets, support investment decisions and manage business operations.

The company operates through businesses including S&P Global Ratings, which provides credit ratings and related research; S&P Global Market Intelligence, which delivers data, research and analytics on companies, markets and industries; and S&P Global Commodity Insights, which supplies information and analysis for energy and commodity markets.

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