Farther Finance Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 5.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,512 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $2,304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,176 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,582,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth $144,091,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,503,000 after buying an additional 1,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 10,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,410,000 after buying an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE SPGI opened at $514.11 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $493.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $504.27. S&P Global Inc. has a 12 month low of $427.14 and a 12 month high of $545.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.63, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.23 by $0.14. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 14.33%. The company had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.01 earnings per share. S&P Global’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be given a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. S&P Global’s payout ratio is currently 30.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of S&P Global from $618.00 to $565.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $555.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $592.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other S&P Global news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.43, for a total transaction of $255,215.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,131 shares in the company, valued at $2,619,016.33. This represents a 8.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

About S&P Global

S&P Global, Inc engages in the provision of transparent and independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and data to the capital and commodity markets worldwide. It operates through the following segments: Market Intelligence, Ratings, Commodity Insights, Mobility, Indices, and Engineering Solutions.