Cerity Partners LLC Trims Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Cerity Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 2.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 174,442 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,929 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.06% of S&P Global worth $88,633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SPGI. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of S&P Global by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,176 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,582,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in shares of S&P Global by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 74,479 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $37,093,000 after acquiring an additional 2,413 shares during the last quarter. GHE LLC increased its position in shares of S&P Global by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 13,504 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,725,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of S&P Global by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $619,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of S&P Global by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,855 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,916,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SPGI. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $627.00 to $632.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Bank of America began coverage on shares of S&P Global in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $587.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $616.00 to $589.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $567.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, S&P Global currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $596.79.

S&P Global Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE SPGI traded down $2.78 on Friday, hitting $527.05. 816,683 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,229,109. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. S&P Global Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $427.14 and a fifty-two week high of $545.39. The company has a market cap of $161.65 billion, a PE ratio of 41.40, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $515.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $505.48.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.01 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at S&P Global

In other news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the business'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 transaction of $255,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,619,016.33. The trade was a 8.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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.