Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Purchases 12,979 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 74.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 30,441 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,979 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $13,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,793,751 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,464,951,000 after purchasing an additional 291,712 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of S&P Global during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,652,862,000. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in S&P Global by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,818,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,241,706,000 after buying an additional 12,644 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,624,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,156,060,000 after buying an additional 279,633 shares during the period. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in S&P Global by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,467,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,086,952,000 after acquiring an additional 7,887 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

S&P Global Price Performance

NYSE SPGI opened at $510.64 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $159.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.25, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $486.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $448.74. S&P Global Inc. has a 1 year low of $340.49 and a 1 year high of $521.50.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.57 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 27th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at S&P Global

In other news, insider Edouard Tavernier sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total value of $245,775.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,217 shares in the company, valued at $6,496,816.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Edouard Tavernier sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total value of $245,775.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,217 shares in the company, valued at $6,496,816.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert P. Kelly sold 7,662 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $481.28, for a total value of $3,687,567.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,830 shares in the company, 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. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on S&P Global from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of S&P Global from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $532.00 to $537.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of S&P Global to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $530.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $535.25.

S&P Global 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.