S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) Price Target Increased to $589.00 by Analysts at BMO Capital Markets

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) had its price objective boosted by BMO Capital Markets from $537.00 to $589.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Raymond James lowered shares of S&P Global from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of S&P Global from $540.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $565.17.

S&P Global Stock Performance

SPGI stock opened at $528.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $165.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.24, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $509.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $466.42. S&P Global has a one year low of $340.49 and a one year high of $533.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.03% and a return on equity of 13.03%. S&P Global’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.12 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that S&P Global will post 14.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. S&P Global’s payout ratio is 40.81%.

Insider Transactions at S&P Global

In other news, insider Edouard Tavernier sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total transaction of $245,775.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,496,816.35. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Robert P. Kelly sold 7,662 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 15,830 shares in the company, valued at $7,618,662.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Edouard Tavernier sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 13,217 shares in the company, valued at $6,496,816.35. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,862 shares of company stock valued at $8,645,727 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SPGI. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $351,774,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 352.2% in 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 purchased a new position in S&P Global in the 1st quarter valued at $142,526,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,516,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,115,697,000 after purchasing an additional 298,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in 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. 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.