World Investment Advisors Boosts Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

World Investment Advisors boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 5.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,618 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,049 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors' holdings in S&P Global were worth $9,968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,725,084,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 60,982.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,139,101 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,086,877,000 after buying an additional 2,135,599 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,631,568,000 after purchasing an additional 525,347 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $238,503,000. Finally, BlueSpruce Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth $178,858,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of SPGI opened at $531.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company's fifty day moving average is $512.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $504.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.19. S&P Global Inc. has a 1 year low of $427.14 and a 1 year high of $545.39.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share 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 revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SPGI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of S&P Global from $616.00 to $589.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on S&P Global from $567.00 to $592.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Argus raised S&P Global to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $555.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on S&P Global in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $599.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $593.93.

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.

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