S&P Global Inc. $SPGI Position Boosted by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 12.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,427 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $1,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Emerald Advisers LLC lifted its position in S&P Global by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 911 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $480,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Fullcircle Wealth LLC increased its position in S&P Global by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fullcircle Wealth LLC now owns 1,748 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $984,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC increased its position in S&P Global by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 2,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,453,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 2,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,180,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $571,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on SPGI. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of S&P Global in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $619.00 to $629.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $538.00 price target on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of S&P Global from $610.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $635.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $612.38.

S&P Global Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:SPGI opened at $495.89 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $502.04 and its 200-day moving average is $516.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. S&P Global Inc. has a 12 month low of $427.14 and a 12 month high of $579.05. The firm has a market cap of $150.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.17.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 28th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.30% and a return on equity of 15.11%. Equities analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. S&P Global’s payout ratio is presently 27.93%.

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.