Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Makes New Investment in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 446 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $230,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SPGI. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sachetta LLC raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 103.4% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the second quarter worth $27,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

S&P Global Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:SPGI opened at $507.34 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $511.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $476.41. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $392.69 and a 52 week high of $533.29. The company has a market capitalization of $157.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.43 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 25.80%. The company’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.21 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on SPGI shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $564.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of S&P Global in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $536.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $571.31.

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.