NorthRock Partners LLC Buys 454 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 20.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $1,399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SPGI. Dupont Capital Management Corp grew its position in S&P Global by 27.1% during the 1st quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 28,249 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,019,000 after acquiring an additional 6,025 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in S&P Global in the 1st quarter worth approximately $377,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. TFB Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the first quarter valued at approximately $275,000. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 73.0% during the first quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 1,344 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $572,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SPGI traded up $1.51 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $487.28. The company had a trading volume of 73,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,198,085. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $512.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $474.13. S&P Global Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $381.33 and a fifty-two week high of $533.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.25. S&P Global had a return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 25.80%. The firm had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.16 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert P. Kelly sold 7,662 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.28, for a total value of $3,687,567.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,618,662.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on SPGI shares. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of S&P Global in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on S&P Global from $530.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on S&P Global from $536.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $600.00 to $585.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $540.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $571.31.

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.