Raymond James Trust N.A. Acquires 659 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 6.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,230 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 659 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $5,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SPGI. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in S&P Global in the third quarter worth about $27,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of S&P Global in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sachetta LLC lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 103.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in S&P Global in the second quarter worth $27,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SPGI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $600.00 to $585.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on S&P Global from $589.00 to $564.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James cut S&P Global from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on S&P Global from $550.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $571.31.

S&P Global Price Performance

NYSE SPGI opened at $514.37 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $159.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.40, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.18. S&P Global Inc. has a 12 month low of $407.69 and a 12 month high of $533.29. The company’s 50 day moving average is $509.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $481.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.13%.

S&P Global 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.