Oppenheimer Increases S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) Price Target to $540.00

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) had its price target lifted by Oppenheimer from $486.00 to $540.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on SPGI. Erste Group Bank reiterated a hold rating on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America raised their target price on S&P Global from $530.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on S&P Global from $442.00 to $446.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on S&P Global from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $526.73.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of SPGI stock opened at $486.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $455.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $438.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. S&P Global has a 12 month low of $340.49 and a 12 month high of $502.95. The company has a market capitalization of $152.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.16.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.37. S&P Global had a return on equity of 13.03% and a net margin of 25.03%. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.12 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that S&P Global will post 14.58 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.81%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Steven J. Kemps sold 2,700 shares of S&P Global stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total value of $1,327,185.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $715,205.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Edouard Tavernier sold 500 shares of S&P Global stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total transaction of $245,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,496,816.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven J. Kemps sold 2,700 shares of S&P Global stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total value of $1,327,185.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $715,205.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On S&P Global

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janney Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC now owns 17,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,678,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 1,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,403,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $618,369,000 after acquiring an additional 190,758 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 54.2% during the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,397,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aspiriant LLC bought a new position in S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth about $398,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.