Highland Capital Management LLC Buys 70 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Highland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $5,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SPGI. Norges Bank bought a new stake in S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,112,935,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in S&P Global by 11,089.7% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,230,227 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $914,794,000 after buying an additional 2,210,296 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in S&P Global by 49.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,318,418 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,446,412,000 after buying an additional 1,437,116 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in S&P Global by 39.5% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,727,874 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,529,100,000 after buying an additional 1,056,097 shares during the period. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in S&P Global by 113,163.2% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,005,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $336,875,000 after buying an additional 1,004,889 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on SPGI shares. Raymond James increased their target price on S&P Global from $422.00 to $452.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Friday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $446.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at S&P Global

In other S&P Global news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $424.74, for a total value of $2,548,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 162,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,032,992.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Price Performance

S&P Global stock opened at $422.81 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $433.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $410.55. S&P Global Inc. has a one year low of $329.46 and a one year high of $461.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $135.41 billion, a PE ratio of 51.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.15.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The business services provider reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by ($0.02). S&P Global had a return on equity of 11.34% and a net margin of 21.02%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.54 EPS. S&P Global’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. This is an increase from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.23%.

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, and S&P Dow Jones Indices segments.