Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Grows Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 8.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,869 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,480 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in S&P Global were worth $28,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its holdings in S&P Global by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 37,746 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $18,799,000 after buying an additional 6,051 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global in the 4th quarter valued at about $14,040,000. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC raised its holdings in S&P Global by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 11,499 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,727,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in S&P Global by 20.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,210 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,139,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coalescence Partners Investment Management LP boosted its position in S&P Global by 62.7% during the fourth quarter. Coalescence Partners Investment Management LP now owns 30,089 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $14,985,000 after purchasing an additional 11,599 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at S&P Global

In other S&P Global news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.43, for a total value of $255,215.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,131 shares in the company, valued at $2,619,016.33. The trade was a 8.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SPGI. UBS Group upped their target price on S&P Global from $555.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $567.00 to $592.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $627.00 to $632.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, S&P Global has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $593.93.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of S&P Global stock traded up $5.38 on Thursday, hitting $531.02. 576,884 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,230,396. S&P Global Inc. has a 1-year low of $427.14 and a 1-year high of $545.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $510.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $503.90.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 27.27%. The company had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.01 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.16%.

S&P Global Company Profile

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.