Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Purchases 265 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,975 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $11,002,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its holdings in S&P Global by 64.1% during the fourth quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 64 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA lifted its position in S&P Global by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC acquired a new position in S&P Global during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

S&P Global Price Performance

NYSE:SPGI traded up $1.78 on Tuesday, reaching $427.54. 487,209 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,362,924. The firm has a market cap of $133.78 billion, a PE ratio of 47.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $422.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $420.42. S&P Global Inc. has a 12 month low of $340.49 and a 12 month high of $461.16.

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 company had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.39 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.1 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, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 29th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 28th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

SPGI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on S&P Global from $480.00 to $483.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $422.00 to $452.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $480.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on S&P Global from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, S&P Global has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $462.60.

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.