Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Buys 2,199 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. grew its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 8.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,037 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,199 shares during the period. S&P Global accounts for approximately 0.5% of Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.'s holdings in S&P Global were worth $14,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new position in S&P Global in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in S&P Global in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its position in S&P Global by 131.0% in the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 67 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target 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. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of 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 upped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price 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. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat, S&P Global presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $596.79.

Insider Transactions at S&P Global

In other news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 5,131 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,619,016.33. The trade was a 8.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of S&P Global stock traded down $3.35 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $526.77. 223,554 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,297,906. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $516.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $505.69. S&P Global Inc. has a twelve month low of $427.14 and a twelve month high of $545.39. The company has a market cap of $161.56 billion, a PE ratio of 41.39, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.19.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.23 by $0.14. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.72 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.01 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. 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.