S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) Price Target Increased to $570.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) had its target price boosted by Morgan Stanley from $564.00 to $570.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an outperform rating and a $599.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $532.00 to $537.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $550.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $500.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, S&P Global has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $560.83.

S&P Global Trading Up 1.3 %

S&P Global stock opened at $521.86 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $507.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $464.36. S&P Global has a 1 year low of $340.49 and a 1 year high of $528.02. The stock has a market cap of $163.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.47, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.18. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.37. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.03% and a return on equity of 13.03%. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.12 earnings per share. S&P Global’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that S&P Global will post 14.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Edouard Tavernier sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were 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 approximately $6,496,816.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Edouard Tavernier sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total value 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven J. Kemps sold 2,700 shares of the company’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 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,862 shares of company stock valued at $8,645,727. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of S&P Global

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPGI. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in S&P Global in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Sachetta LLC lifted its stake in S&P Global by 103.4% in the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, First Pacific Financial lifted its position in shares of S&P Global by 49.0% during the second quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 73 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.