S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) PT Lowered to $442.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) had its price objective reduced by research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $460.00 to $442.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 7.48% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on SPGI. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. 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. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $462.00.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SPGI traded down $0.88 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $411.23. The stock had a trading volume of 491,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,301,046. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $425.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $415.27. The company has a market capitalization of $131.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. S&P Global has a fifty-two week low of $338.92 and a fifty-two week high of $461.16.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The business services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 11.34% and a net margin of 21.02%. S&P Global’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that S&P Global will post 14.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,032,992.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SPGI. Norges Bank bought a new position in S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth $1,652,862,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in S&P Global by 11,089.7% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,230,227 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $914,794,000 after acquiring an additional 2,210,296 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in S&P Global by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,318,418 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,446,412,000 after buying an additional 1,437,116 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in S&P Global by 39.5% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,727,874 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,529,100,000 after buying an additional 1,056,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in S&P Global by 113,163.2% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,005,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $336,875,000 after buying an additional 1,004,889 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.