University of Chicago Acquires Shares of 650 S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

University of Chicago acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 650 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $330,000. S&P Global comprises approximately 0.5% of University of Chicago's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in S&P Global in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new position in S&P Global in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in S&P Global by 103.3% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 61 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its stake 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on S&P Global from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group raised their price target on S&P Global from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on S&P Global from $595.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on S&P Global from $610.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $611.69.

S&P Global Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE SPGI traded down $6.24 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $544.86. 1,885,503 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,294,018. 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 company has a market cap of $167.11 billion, a PE ratio of 42.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.19. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $427.14 and a 52 week high of $558.86. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $519.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $508.64.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $4.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.25. S&P Global had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 27.27%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.04 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. S&P Global's payout ratio is currently 30.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at S&P Global

In related news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,619,016.33. This represents a 8.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.