Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. Invests $494,000 in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. bought a new position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 972 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $494,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SPGI. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 valued at $3,273,264,000 after buying an additional 116,208 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth about $1,725,084,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 525,347 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 357,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,345,377 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,162,979,000 after acquiring an additional 145,434 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SPGI shares. UBS Group raised their target price on S&P Global from $555.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of S&P Global from $618.00 to $565.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $592.71.

S&P Global Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of SPGI stock opened at $519.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $159.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.07, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. S&P Global Inc. has a 1 year low of $425.49 and a 1 year high of $545.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $492.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $504.25.

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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.23 by $0.14. S&P Global had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 27.12%. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.01 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,131 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,619,016.33. This represents a 8.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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