Peterson Wealth Services Purchases Shares of 577 S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Peterson Wealth Services acquired a new position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 577 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in S&P Global by 77.2% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 810 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 30,732 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,538,000 after acquiring an additional 1,648 shares during the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 101 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Guidance Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 1,782 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. Finally, Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 10,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,700,000 after purchasing an additional 2,410 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other S&P Global news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 162,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,032,992.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of S&P Global stock traded up $3.14 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $415.25. The company had a trading volume of 238,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,297,635. S&P Global Inc. has a 52-week low of $338.92 and a 52-week high of $461.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $425.70 and a 200 day moving average of $415.27.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The business services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.15 by ($0.02). S&P Global had a net margin of 21.02% and a return on equity of 11.34%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.54 earnings per share. S&P Global’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This is an increase from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SPGI shares. Raymond James boosted their target price 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. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of S&P Global in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $464.22.

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.