Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 53,188 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 785,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 53,188 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $350,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 5.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,793,751 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,464,951,000 after acquiring an additional 291,712 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in S&P Global by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,818,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,241,706,000 after buying an additional 12,644 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in S&P Global by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,467,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,086,952,000 after buying an additional 7,887 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP raised its stake in S&P Global by 2.1% during the first quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 2,199,754 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $935,885,000 after buying an additional 46,131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its stake in S&P Global by 0.6% during the first quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 1,458,141 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $620,366,000 after buying an additional 8,435 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of S&P Global stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.60, for a total transaction of $3,385,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,912 shares in the company, valued at $74,915,443.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.60, for a total transaction of $3,385,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,912 shares in the company, valued at $74,915,443.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven J. Kemps sold 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total transaction of $1,327,185.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,455 shares in the company, valued at $715,205.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,862 shares of company stock worth $8,645,727 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SPGI shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $530.00 to $564.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $532.00 to $537.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $530.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $486.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of S&P Global from $500.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, S&P Global currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $548.18.

S&P Global Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE SPGI opened at $527.40 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $494.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $452.62. S&P Global Inc. has a 1 year low of $340.49 and a 1 year high of $528.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

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

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.81%.

S&P Global 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.