Raymond James Downgrades S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) to Market Perform

Raymond James cut shares of S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on SPGI. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $486.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $500.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $530.00 to $564.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $550.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of S&P Global to a strong-buy rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $548.18.

S&P Global Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of SPGI opened at $514.62 on Monday. S&P Global has a 52 week low of $340.49 and a 52 week high of $528.02. The firm has a market cap of $161.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $500.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $456.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.37. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.03% and a return on equity of 13.03%. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.12 EPS. S&P Global’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that S&P Global will post 14.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at S&P Global

In related news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.60, for a total value of $3,385,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 154,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,915,443.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert P. Kelly sold 7,662 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.28, for a total value of $3,687,567.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,618,662.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.60, for a total transaction of $3,385,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,915,443.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,862 shares of company stock valued at $8,645,727. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On S&P Global

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPGI. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its position in S&P Global by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $507,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in S&P Global in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $215,000. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its position in S&P Global by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,758 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $774,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its position in S&P Global by 75.7% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,354 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014 shares during the period. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth $379,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.