S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) Shares Gap Up to $413.28

S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $413.28, but opened at $428.04. S&P Global shares last traded at $410.22, with a volume of 550,398 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on SPGI shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on S&P Global from $480.00 to $483.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on S&P Global from $422.00 to $452.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $462.00.

S&P Global Stock Up 0.5 %

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $423.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $417.07. The company has a market capitalization of $133.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The business services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.15 by ($0.02). S&P Global had a return on equity of 11.34% and a net margin of 21.02%. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.54 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $424.74, for a total transaction of $2,548,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,032,992.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of S&P Global

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SPGI. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,652,862,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of S&P Global by 13.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,579,943 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,769,787,000 after buying an additional 881,215 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of S&P Global by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,502,039 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,423,762,000 after buying an additional 616,732 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of S&P Global by 8.2% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,658,865 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,067,807,000 after buying an additional 428,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of S&P Global by 1,750.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 428,390 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $156,538,000 after buying an additional 405,234 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

S&P Global Company Profile

S&P Global Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and workflow solutions in the global capital, commodity, and automotive markets. It operates through S&P Global Market Intelligence, S&P Global Ratings, S&P Global Commodity Insights, S&P Global Mobility, S&P Dow Jones Indices, and S&P Global Engineering Solutions segments.