Dearborn Partners LLC Has $28.43 Million Stock Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Dearborn Partners LLC cut its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 20.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,954 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 14,400 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC's holdings in S&P Global were worth $28,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 103.3% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 61 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SPGI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $604.00 to $621.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, S&P Global presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $611.69.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of SPGI stock traded down $6.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $544.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,885,503 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,294,018. S&P Global Inc. has a 1-year low of $427.14 and a 1-year high of $558.86. The company has a market cap of $167.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.80, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm's 50-day moving average is $519.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $508.64.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $4.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.25. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.04 EPS. The business's revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be given a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.16%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.43, for a total transaction of $255,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,131 shares in the company, valued at $2,619,016.33. This trade represents a 8.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About S&P Global

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.