S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) Shares Bought by Highland Capital Management LLC

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

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the first quarter worth $1,969,000. Markel Corp lifted its position in shares of S&P Global by 0.8% in the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 149,790 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $61,441,000 after buying an additional 1,250 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of S&P Global by 1.6% in the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $919,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of S&P Global by 115.4% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $883,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of S&P Global by 12.4% in the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 736 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SPGI. Raymond James boosted their price target on S&P Global from $422.00 to $452.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of S&P Global in a report on Friday, February 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, S&P Global has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $446.25.

S&P Global Price Performance

SPGI opened at $422.81 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $433.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $410.55. The stock has a market cap of $135.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. S&P Global Inc. has a 12 month low of $329.46 and a 12 month high of $461.16.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The business services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share (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 firm 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 company posted $2.54 EPS. S&P Global’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 14 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at S&P Global

In other news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $424.74, for a total transaction of $2,548,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 162,530 shares in the company, valued at $69,032,992.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.10% 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, and S&P Dow Jones Indices segments.