WASHINGTON TRUST Co Cuts Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lessened its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,899 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 639 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co's holdings in S&P Global were worth $22,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SPGI. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 225.0% in the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 117 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 61,994 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $31,499,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the last quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the first quarter valued at about $230,000. Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global during the first quarter worth approximately $225,000. Finally, Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in S&P Global by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 862 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SPGI shares. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of S&P Global in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $599.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target 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. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on S&P Global from $567.00 to $592.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective 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, Argus raised shares of S&P Global to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $593.57.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SPGI traded down $5.90 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $523.43. The stock had a trading volume of 364,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,332,705. The business's 50 day moving average price is $509.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $503.75. S&P Global Inc. has a 1 year low of $427.14 and a 1 year high of $545.39. The company has a market cap of $160.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.23 by $0.14. S&P Global had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 27.27%. 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 prior year, the firm earned $4.01 earnings per share. S&P Global's revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect 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, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other S&P Global news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the business's 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,131 shares in the company, valued at $2,619,016.33. This represents a 8.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.