West Coast Financial LLC Trims Stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

West Coast Financial LLC lessened its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,860 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 592 shares during the period. S&P Global accounts for about 1.0% of West Coast Financial LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. West Coast Financial LLC's holdings in S&P Global were worth $8,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth about $1,725,084,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 60,982.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,139,101 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,086,877,000 after acquiring an additional 2,135,599 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth about $527,207,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 71,024.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 619,491 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $308,525,000 after acquiring an additional 618,620 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 19.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 525,347 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SPGI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on S&P Global from $616.00 to $589.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho began coverage on S&P Global in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $599.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded S&P Global from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $592.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other S&P Global news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.43, for a total transaction of $255,215.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,131 shares in the company, valued at $2,619,016.33. This trade represents a 8.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

S&P Global Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:SPGI traded up $3.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $519.58. The company had a trading volume of 624,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,221,082. S&P Global Inc. has a one year low of $425.49 and a one year high of $545.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $159.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $492.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $504.25.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.72 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.01 EPS. S&P Global's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.16%.

S&P Global Company 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.