Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Acquires New Stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 550 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 3.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,868,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,581,580,000 after buying an additional 292,436 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,965,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,081,830,000 after acquiring an additional 369,598 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of S&P Global by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,826,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,260,665,000 after acquiring an additional 29,227 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of S&P Global by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,713,617 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,401,909,000 after purchasing an additional 28,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in S&P Global by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,516,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,115,697,000 after purchasing an additional 298,645 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on SPGI. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on S&P Global from $540.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of S&P Global from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $564.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on S&P Global from $550.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, S&P Global has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $571.31.

S&P Global Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of S&P Global stock opened at $513.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $159.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.36, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.19. S&P Global Inc. has a twelve month low of $407.69 and a twelve month high of $533.29. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $509.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $487.26.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.43 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 25.80%. The company’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.21 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.13%.

S&P Global Company 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.