Natixis Advisors L.P. Purchases 8,537 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 172,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,537 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned approximately 0.05% of S&P Global worth $76,107,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. D.B. Root & Company LLC lifted its position in shares of S&P Global by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 662 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in S&P Global by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 714 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in S&P Global by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,356 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $598,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. grew its holdings in S&P Global by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 101 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its position in shares of S&P Global by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,487 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $655,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

S&P Global Stock Performance

S&P Global stock traded up $8.22 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $425.18. 1,594,450 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,374,536. S&P Global Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $340.49 and a fifty-two week high of $461.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.04 billion, a PE ratio of 47.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $422.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $418.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The business services provider reported $4.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.68 by $0.33. S&P Global had a net margin of 22.01% and a return on equity of 12.20%. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.39 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.1 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 28th. S&P Global’s payout ratio is currently 40.81%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $424.74, for a total value of $2,548,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,530 shares in the company, valued at $69,032,992.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SPGI. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on S&P Global from $442.00 to $446.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $480.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of S&P Global from $480.00 to $483.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $462.60.

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.