Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Raises Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,628 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,187 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in S&P Global were worth $42,645,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of S&P Global by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,589,982 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,273,264,000 after acquiring an additional 116,208 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth $1,725,084,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in S&P Global by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,276,043 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,631,568,000 after purchasing an additional 525,347 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in S&P Global by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,071,407 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,529,653,000 after purchasing an additional 357,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in S&P Global by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,345,377 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,162,979,000 after acquiring an additional 145,434 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SPGI has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $618.00 to $565.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Argus raised shares of S&P Global to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $599.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of S&P Global from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $592.71.

S&P Global Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:SPGI traded down $1.42 on Friday, hitting $512.68. 2,142,178 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,224,338. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $419.49 and a 52 week high of $545.39. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $492.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $503.93. The company has a market cap of $157.24 billion, a PE ratio of 41.51, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.23 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.72 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 27.12%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.01 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect 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, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be given a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.16%.

Insider Activity

In other S&P Global news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of S&P Global stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.43, for a total transaction of $255,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,131 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,619,016.33. The trade was a 8.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

S&P Global 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.