Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Purchases 60 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,953 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its position in S&P Global by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,409 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $515,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 1,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $671,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in shares of S&P Global by 54.2% in the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115 shares during the last quarter. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning acquired a new stake in S&P Global in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,644,000. Finally, Aspiriant LLC purchased a new stake in S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth approximately $398,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at S&P Global

In other S&P Global news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 6,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 162,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,032,992.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on SPGI shares. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of S&P Global from $422.00 to $452.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $480.00 to $483.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of S&P Global in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on S&P Global from $442.00 to $446.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on S&P Global from $480.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $462.60.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of SPGI stock traded up $0.32 on Wednesday, reaching $428.88. 197,465 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,353,946. The company has a market cap of $134.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.14. S&P Global Inc. has a 1 year low of $340.49 and a 1 year high of $461.16. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $422.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $420.97. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The business services provider reported $4.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.68 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.39 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 22.01% and a return on equity of 12.20%. Equities research analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 29th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 40.81%.

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.