Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,359 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $599,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SPGI. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 13.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,579,943 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,769,787,000 after acquiring an additional 881,215 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in S&P Global by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,658,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,067,807,000 after purchasing an additional 428,737 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,275,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,196,728,000 after purchasing an additional 52,560 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in S&P Global by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,206,839 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $798,821,000 after purchasing an additional 83,174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,502,798 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $662,013,000 after buying an additional 294,896 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE:SPGI opened at $416.93 on Tuesday. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $338.92 and a 52 week high of $461.16. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $424.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $416.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 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 (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 21.02% and a return on equity of 11.34%. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.54 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at S&P Global

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SPGI shares. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of S&P Global from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on S&P Global from $480.00 to $483.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Raymond James lifted their price objective on S&P Global from $422.00 to $452.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, S&P Global has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $462.00.

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, S&P Dow Jones Indices, and S&P Global Engineering Solutions segments.