Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Sells 2,514 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC decreased its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,709 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,514 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings in S&P Global were worth $73,527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SPGI. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of S&P Global by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 37,746 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $18,799,000 after purchasing an additional 6,051 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth about $14,040,000. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of S&P Global by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 11,499 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,727,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. grew its position in shares of S&P Global by 85.9% during the fourth quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. now owns 1,288 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coalescence Partners Investment Management LP grew its position in shares of S&P Global by 62.7% during the fourth quarter. Coalescence Partners Investment Management LP now owns 30,089 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $14,985,000 after purchasing an additional 11,599 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was 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 now directly owns 5,131 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,619,016.33. This trade represents a 8.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

S&P Global Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:SPGI traded up $10.84 during trading on Monday, hitting $515.04. The company had a trading volume of 2,133,033 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,234,145. The stock has a market cap of $157.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.20. S&P Global Inc. has a one year low of $427.14 and a one year high of $545.39. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $501.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $503.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.23 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.72 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 27.27%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.01 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th were paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 28th. S&P Global's payout ratio is 30.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on SPGI shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on S&P Global from $607.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America initiated coverage on S&P Global in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on S&P Global from $555.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on S&P Global from $618.00 to $565.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Argus raised S&P Global to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $592.71.

S&P Global Profile

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.