Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Invests $284,000 in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 550 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 107.2% during the second quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 5,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,798,000 after buying an additional 2,962 shares during the last quarter. GDS Wealth Management grew its position in S&P Global by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 27,358 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,801 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in S&P Global by 4.9% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 30,014 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,405 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of S&P Global by 53.8% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,536 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 3.9% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 47,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

S&P Global Price Performance

SPGI opened at $513.89 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.46 billion, a PE ratio of 45.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50-day moving average is $509.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $487.26. S&P Global Inc. has a 1 year low of $407.69 and a 1 year high of $533.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. S&P Global’s payout ratio is 32.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of S&P Global from $540.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $550.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on S&P Global from $536.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on S&P Global from $564.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on S&P Global from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $571.31.

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.