Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Reduces Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 10.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 114,481 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 12,680 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in S&P Global were worth $58,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,725,084,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in S&P Global by 60,982.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,139,101 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,086,877,000 after buying an additional 2,135,599 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth approximately $527,207,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in S&P Global by 71,024.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 619,491 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $308,525,000 after buying an additional 618,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in S&P Global by 19.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at S&P Global

In other news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,619,016.33. This represents a 8.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

S&P Global Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:SPGI traded up $1.22 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $503.85. 2,078,049 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,230,529. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $501.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $503.44. S&P Global Inc. has a twelve month low of $427.14 and a twelve month high of $545.39. The company has a market capitalization of $154.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.58, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.20.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $4.23 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.01 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th were paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 28th. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SPGI shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Argus upgraded S&P Global to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on S&P Global from $555.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America started coverage on S&P Global in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, S&P Global currently 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.