Focus Partners Wealth Acquires 52,505 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 32.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 215,527 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 52,505 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth owned 0.07% of S&P Global worth $107,690,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SPGI. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,725,084,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global in the 4th quarter valued at about $527,207,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 71,024.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 619,491 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $308,525,000 after purchasing an additional 618,620 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 19.1% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, BlueSpruce Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $178,858,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SPGI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of S&P Global in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $599.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on S&P Global from $618.00 to $565.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $592.71.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SPGI traded down $2.48 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $515.88. The company had a trading volume of 1,215,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,222,753. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $158.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.77, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. S&P Global Inc. has a one year low of $419.49 and a one year high of $545.39. The company's 50-day moving average price is $486.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $501.79.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.23 by $0.14. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 14.33%. The company had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.01 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be issued a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.