Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 1,166 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,794 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,166 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $44,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SPGI. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,725,084,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 60,982.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,139,101 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,086,877,000 after acquiring an additional 2,135,599 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in S&P Global in the 4th quarter worth approximately $527,207,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in S&P Global by 71,024.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 619,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $308,525,000 after purchasing an additional 618,620 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in S&P Global by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,276,043 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,631,568,000 after purchasing an additional 525,347 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on SPGI shares. Mizuho started coverage on S&P Global in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $555.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of S&P Global from $616.00 to $589.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, S&P Global currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $592.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.43, for a total value of $255,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,619,016.33. This trade represents a 8.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Trading Up 0.2%

SPGI stock opened at $503.85 on Friday. S&P Global Inc. has a 1-year low of $427.14 and a 1-year high of $545.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $154.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.58, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $501.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $503.44.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.23 by $0.14. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.01 earnings per share. S&P Global’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th were given a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.16%.

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.