S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) Shares Bought by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 352.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 463,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 360,909 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.15% of S&P Global worth $206,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bison Wealth LLC grew its position in S&P Global by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 973 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Keel Point LLC lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 988 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 2,591 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,141,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 2,123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $935,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,164 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,799,000 after buying an additional 1,490 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

S&P Global Price Performance

S&P Global stock traded down $1.87 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $491.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,012,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,242,893. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $466.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $441.69. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $340.49 and a 52 week high of $502.95. The stock has a market cap of $153.65 billion, a PE ratio of 55.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.37. S&P Global had a return on equity of 13.03% and a net margin of 25.03%. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.12 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.58 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.81%.

Insider Activity

In other S&P Global news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of S&P Global stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 154,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,915,443.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Steven J. Kemps sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total value of $1,327,185.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $715,205.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.60, for a total value of $3,385,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,912 shares in the company, valued at $74,915,443.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,862 shares of company stock worth $8,645,727. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on SPGI. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $532.00 to $537.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $486.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, S&P Global currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $530.75.

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.