S&P Global Inc. $SPGI Position Boosted by First Merchants Corp

First Merchants Corp increased its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 18.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,053 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $8,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new position in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 134.6% during the fourth quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 61 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Palladiem LLC acquired a new stake in S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in S&P Global in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new stake in S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on SPGI. Weiss Ratings cut shares of S&P Global from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Evercore reduced their price target on shares of S&P Global from $625.00 to $560.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $482.00 to $495.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of S&P Global in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $551.00 to $554.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $545.28.

Insider Activity

In other S&P Global news, CEO Catherine R. Clay acquired 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $431.39 per share, with a total value of $1,078,475.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,078,475. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Martina Cheung bought 2,322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $429.93 per share, for a total transaction of $998,297.46. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,830,813.74. This represents a 9.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 5,974 shares of company stock worth $2,576,775. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of S&P Global stock opened at $411.32 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $423.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $456.02. S&P Global Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $381.61 and a fifty-two week high of $579.05. The firm has a market cap of $121.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $4.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 30.37%.S&P Global’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.37 earnings per share. S&P Global has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.400-19.650 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 19.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.97 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.56%.

S&P Global Profile

S&P Global is a leading provider of financial information, analytics and benchmark indices that serve investors, issuers, corporations and public institutions worldwide. The company operates through well-known businesses that include credit ratings, market intelligence and index licensing, as well as commodity and energy information services. Its products and services are used to assess creditworthiness, inform investment decisions, construct and track benchmark portfolios, and support risk and commodity market analysis.

S&P Global Ratings provides independent credit ratings, research and data used by fixed income investors and capital market participants to evaluate issuer and transaction risk.