Cetera Investment Advisers Grows Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in S&P Global were worth $39,945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sachetta LLC raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 103.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, First Pacific Financial raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 49.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 73 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at S&P Global

In other news, Director Robert P. Kelly sold 7,662 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $481.28, for a total transaction of $3,687,567.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,618,662.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.60, for a total transaction of $3,385,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,915,443.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert P. Kelly sold 7,662 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.28, for a total value of $3,687,567.36. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,618,662.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,862 shares of company stock worth $8,645,727. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SPGI shares. Barclays upped their target price on S&P Global from $550.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group increased their price objective on S&P Global from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America increased their price objective on S&P Global from $530.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on S&P Global from $486.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on S&P Global from $530.00 to $564.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, S&P Global presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $548.18.

S&P Global Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of SPGI opened at $512.15 on Wednesday. S&P Global Inc. has a 52-week low of $340.49 and a 52-week high of $528.02. The company has a market capitalization of $160.25 billion, a PE ratio of 57.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $503.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $459.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.37. S&P Global had a return on equity of 13.03% and a net margin of 25.03%. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.12 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.57 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.81%.

About S&P Global

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.