Morgan Stanley Boosts S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) Price Target to $570.00

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

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on SPGI. Stifel Nicolaus increased 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 note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an outperform rating and a $599.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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 note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays raised 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 note on Friday, September 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $560.83.

S&P Global Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of S&P Global stock opened at $521.86 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50-day moving average of $507.74 and a 200 day moving average of $464.36. The firm has a market cap of $163.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.47, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.18. S&P Global has a 1 year low of $340.49 and a 1 year high of $528.02.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.03% and a return on equity of 13.03%. S&P Global’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.12 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that S&P Global will post 14.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at S&P Global

In related news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.60, for a total value of $3,385,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 154,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,915,443.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.60, for a total value of $3,385,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 154,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,915,443.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert P. Kelly sold 7,662 shares of S&P Global stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.28, for a total transaction of $3,687,567.36. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,830 shares in the company, valued at $7,618,662.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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 company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On S&P Global

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sachetta LLC lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 103.4% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, First Pacific Financial raised 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

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.