AlphaQuest LLC Buys 915 Shares of S&P Global Inc. $SPGI

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in S&P Global by 19% during the first quarter, owning a total of 5,732 shares valued at approximately $2.9 million.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for S&P Global, with JPMorgan Chase increasing the target from $575 to $625 and Argus upgrading the stock to a "strong-buy" rating.
• S&P Global reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $4.43 for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.96 with a yield of 0.7%.

AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 19.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,732 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 915 shares during the period. S&P Global comprises 0.3% of AlphaQuest LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in S&P Global were worth $2,912,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in S&P Global in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in S&P Global in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in S&P Global in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $567.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on S&P Global from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on S&P Global from $632.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Argus upgraded S&P Global to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, S&P Global currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $611.69.

S&P Global Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of SPGI stock traded up $3.49 during trading on Friday, reaching $555.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,060,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,238,374. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $534.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $513.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $169.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.19. S&P Global Inc. has a one year low of $427.14 and a one year high of $579.05.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $4.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.30% and a return on equity of 15.11%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.04 earnings per share. S&P Global has set its FY 2025 guidance at 17.000-17.250 EPS. Analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. S&P Global's payout ratio is presently 29.54%.

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.