Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases 1,982 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,070 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,982 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $9,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in S&P Global by 174,815.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 467,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $241,274,000 after acquiring an additional 466,757 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 3rd quarter valued at about $224,976,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in S&P Global by 6.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,965,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,081,830,000 after purchasing an additional 369,598 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in S&P Global by 13.5% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,516,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,115,697,000 after buying an additional 298,645 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in S&P Global by 3.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,868,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,581,580,000 after buying an additional 292,436 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SPGI opened at $501.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $155.68 billion, a PE ratio of 44.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $504.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $500.39. 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 released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.43 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.80% and a return on equity of 13.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.21 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SPGI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of S&P Global from $620.00 to $617.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $600.00 to $585.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on S&P Global from $605.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $583.62.

S&P Global Profile

S&P Global, Inc engages in the provision of transparent and independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and data to the capital and commodity markets worldwide. It operates through the following segments: Market Intelligence, Ratings, Commodity Insights, Mobility, Indices, and Engineering Solutions.