Wealthspire Advisors LLC Buys 117 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 21.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 672 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SPGI. Swedbank AB bought a new position in S&P Global during the first quarter worth about $351,774,000. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of S&P Global by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,502,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,423,762,000 after purchasing an additional 616,732 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 352.2% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 463,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $206,669,000 after purchasing an additional 360,909 shares in the last quarter. Third Point LLC acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $142,526,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in S&P Global by 348.2% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 336,640 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $148,284,000 after purchasing an additional 261,526 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at S&P Global

In related news, insider Edouard Tavernier sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total value of $245,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,496,816.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Steven J. Kemps sold 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total transaction of $1,327,185.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $715,205.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,496,816.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,862 shares of company stock worth $8,645,727 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SPGI. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $530.00 to $564.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $550.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America increased their target price on S&P Global from $530.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on S&P Global from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on S&P Global from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, S&P Global presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $548.18.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SPGI opened at $527.40 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $494.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $452.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.02 billion, a PE ratio of 59.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.17. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $340.49 and a 52 week high of $528.02.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.