Sigma Planning Corp Acquires 188 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Sigma Planning Corp raised its position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 13.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,616 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $14,040,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 20.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,139,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares during the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at about $300,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 1.4% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 86,794 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,102,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166 shares during the period. Finally, Alaethes Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,029,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.43, for a total value of $255,215.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,619,016.33. The trade was a 8.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

S&P Global Stock Performance

S&P Global stock opened at $525.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. S&P Global Inc. has a 1-year low of $427.14 and a 1-year high of $545.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.14 billion, a PE ratio of 41.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $517.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $506.12.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $4.23 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.72 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.01 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on SPGI. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America started coverage on S&P Global in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. UBS Group upped their price target on S&P Global from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on S&P Global from $627.00 to $632.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on S&P Global from $567.00 to $592.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $596.79.

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.