Morgan Stanley Raises S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) Price Target to $570.00

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $564.00 to $570.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on SPGI. Barclays raised their price objective on S&P Global from $550.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised S&P Global to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on S&P Global from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on S&P Global from $532.00 to $537.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on S&P Global in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an outperform rating and a $599.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, S&P Global currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $560.83.

S&P Global Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SPGI opened at $522.01 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $507.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $464.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $163.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.52, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.18. S&P Global has a 12-month low of $340.49 and a 12-month high of $528.02.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 13.03% and a net margin of 25.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.12 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that S&P Global will post 14.61 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. S&P Global’s payout ratio is 40.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert P. Kelly sold 7,662 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 15,830 shares in the company, valued at $7,618,662.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert P. Kelly sold 7,662 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 15,830 shares in the company, valued at $7,618,662.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.60, for a total value of $3,385,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 154,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,915,443.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,862 shares of company stock worth $8,645,727 over the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On S&P Global

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPGI. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in S&P Global in the first quarter valued at approximately $351,774,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 352.2% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 463,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $206,669,000 after purchasing an additional 360,909 shares during the last quarter. Third Point LLC purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the first quarter worth approximately $142,526,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 13.5% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,516,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,115,697,000 after purchasing an additional 298,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 5.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,793,751 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,464,951,000 after purchasing an additional 291,712 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

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.