Ninety One North America Inc. Sells 3,289 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Ninety One North America Inc. lowered its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 6.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,279 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,289 shares during the period. S&P Global comprises about 1.7% of Ninety One North America Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Ninety One North America Inc.'s holdings in S&P Global were worth $24,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,725,084,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 60,982.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,139,101 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,086,877,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135,599 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of S&P Global by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,276,043 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,631,568,000 after purchasing an additional 525,347 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of S&P Global in the 4th quarter valued at $238,503,000. Finally, BlueSpruce Investments LP bought a new position in shares of S&P Global in the 4th quarter valued at $178,858,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company's stock.

S&P Global Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of S&P Global stock traded down $3.87 on Tuesday, hitting $526.31. The stock had a trading volume of 890,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,234,089. The stock has a market cap of $161.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.34, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.19. S&P Global Inc. has a one year low of $427.14 and a one year high of $545.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $513.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $504.79.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The company had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.01 earnings per share. S&P Global's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.16%.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $510.43, for a total value of $255,215.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,619,016.33. This trade represents a 8.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on SPGI shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Argus raised S&P Global to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Mizuho started coverage on S&P Global in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $599.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $618.00 to $565.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $596.79.

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.