Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC grew its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the quarter. S&P Global comprises approximately 1.7% of Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $4,693,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at $1,725,084,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in S&P Global during the 4th quarter valued at $527,207,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 71,024.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 619,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $308,525,000 after purchasing an additional 618,620 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of S&P Global by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,276,043 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,631,568,000 after purchasing an additional 525,347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlueSpruce Investments LP bought a new position in shares of S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth about $178,858,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other S&P Global news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.43, for a total transaction of $255,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,131 shares in the company, valued at $2,619,016.33. This trade represents a 8.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of SPGI opened at $522.07 on Wednesday. S&P Global Inc. has a 12 month low of $419.49 and a 12 month high of $545.39. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $489.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $503.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.27, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.23 by $0.14. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 14.33%. The company had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. S&P Global’s payout ratio is presently 30.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $607.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $592.71.

S&P Global Profile

S&P Global, Inc engages in the provision of transparent and independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and data to the capital and commodity markets worldwide. It operates through the following segments: Market Intelligence, Ratings, Commodity Insights, Mobility, Indices, and Engineering Solutions.