S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) Shares Bought by GDS Wealth Management

GDS Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,752 shares during the period. GDS Wealth Management’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $8,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in S&P Global in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 64.1% in the fourth quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 64 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in S&P Global in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its position in S&P Global by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $424.74, for a total value of $2,548,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 162,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,032,992.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Stock Performance

NYSE SPGI traded up $3.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $432.29. 989,579 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,359,554. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business’s 50 day moving average is $422.49 and its 200-day moving average is $421.03. The company has a market capitalization of $135.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.14. S&P Global Inc. has a 1 year low of $340.49 and a 1 year high of $461.16.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The business services provider reported $4.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.68 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.39 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 22.01% and a return on equity of 12.20%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 28th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on SPGI. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on S&P Global from $480.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Friday, February 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Barclays increased their price target on S&P Global from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $462.60.

About S&P Global

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.