Peterson Wealth Services Takes Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

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

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 18.5% during the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,409 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $515,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised 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 purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning bought a new stake in S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,644,000. Aspiriant LLC bought a new stake in S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth approximately $398,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings in S&P Global by 12.1% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 186,231 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $68,051,000 after purchasing an additional 20,153 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at S&P Global

In other news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 6,000 shares of S&P Global 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 directly owns 162,530 shares in the company, valued at $69,032,992.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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’s stock had a trading volume of 238,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,297,635. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.07, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $425.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $415.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. S&P Global Inc. has a 1-year low of $338.92 and a 1-year high of $461.16.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The business services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.54 EPS. S&P Global’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.03 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. This is a positive change 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%. S&P Global’s payout ratio is presently 44.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SPGI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of S&P Global in a report on Friday, February 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $480.00 to $483.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $422.00 to $452.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, S&P Global presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.