Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Sells 14,932 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI reduced its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 15.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 84,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 14,932 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $43,399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First National Corp MA ADV boosted its stake in S&P Global by 0.9% in the third quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 2,344 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,211,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 25.0% during the third quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 100 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. grew its stake in S&P Global by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 1,404 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $725,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC boosted its position in S&P Global by 2.5% in the second quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chatham Capital Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of S&P Global by 0.5% in the second quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 4,501 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,007,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on S&P Global from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of S&P Global from $550.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on S&P Global from $564.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of S&P Global from $589.00 to $564.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on S&P Global from $540.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $571.31.

S&P Global Stock Performance

NYSE SPGI opened at $516.31 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $509.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $487.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $160.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.57, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.19. S&P Global Inc. has a 1-year low of $407.69 and a 1-year high of $533.29.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $3.58 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.21 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

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

About S&P Global

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.