S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) Price Target Raised to $615.00

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley raised its price target for S&P Global from $595.00 to $615.00, suggesting a potential upside of 13.54% from the current stock price.
• In addition to Morgan Stanley, several analysts have adjusted their targets, with JPMorgan Chase raising theirs to $625.00 and UBS Group increasing theirs to $620.00, indicating strong market support for the stock.
• Despite a recent 1.7% drop in share price, S&P Global reported an earnings beat for the last quarter, with an EPS of $4.43 compared to estimates of $4.18.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $595.00 to $615.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the business services provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target would indicate a potential upside of 13.54% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on SPGI. Oppenheimer increased their target price on S&P Global from $567.00 to $592.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Argus upgraded shares of S&P Global to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of S&P Global from $616.00 to $589.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $609.31.

S&P Global Stock Down 1.7%

SPGI traded down $9.44 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $541.67. 429,073 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,283,195. 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 price is $519.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $508.64. The company has a market cap of $166.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.19. S&P Global has a one year low of $427.14 and a one year high of $558.86.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $4.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.25. S&P Global had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 27.27%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.04 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that S&P Global will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other S&P Global news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were 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 owned 5,131 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,619,016.33. This trade represents a 8.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of S&P Global

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in S&P Global by 70,734.1% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,168,411 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,670,671,000 after acquiring an additional 3,163,938 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,103,665,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in 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 period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in S&P Global by 70.1% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,627,276 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $826,819,000 after acquiring an additional 670,392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in S&P Global by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,947,239 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,497,493,000 after acquiring an additional 614,809 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company's stock.

About S&P Global

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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