S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) Shares Sold by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 23.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,632 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 487 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC's holdings in S&P Global were worth $829,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,589,982 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,273,264,000 after buying an additional 116,208 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth $1,725,084,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,276,043 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,631,568,000 after buying an additional 525,347 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,071,407 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,529,653,000 after buying an additional 357,790 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,345,377 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,162,979,000 after buying an additional 145,434 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus upgraded S&P Global to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on S&P Global from $618.00 to $565.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, S&P Global presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $592.71.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SPGI traded up $1.90 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $514.20. The stock had a trading volume of 712,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,218,958. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50 day moving average of $492.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $503.97. S&P Global Inc. has a twelve month low of $425.49 and a twelve month high of $545.39. The firm has a market cap of $157.71 billion, a PE ratio of 41.64, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last released its 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 return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 27.12%. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.01 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other S&P Global news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.43, for a total transaction of $255,215.00. Following 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by 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.