Baillie Gifford & Co. Decreases Stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. reduced its stake in S&P Global by 6.7%, owning approximately 796,189 shares valued at $404.5 million after the sell-off.
• JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Company raised their price targets for S&P Global to $625.00 and $632.00, respectively, maintaining an "overweight" rating for the stock.
• S&P Global recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.96, representing an annual yield of 0.72%, with a payout ratio of 30.16%.

Baillie Gifford & Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 6.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 796,189 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 56,921 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned 0.26% of S&P Global worth $404,544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter valued at about $14,040,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of S&P Global by 20.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,210 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,139,000 after buying an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of S&P Global by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 86,794 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $44,102,000 after buying an additional 1,166 shares in the last quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,029,000. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in S&P Global by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,850 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,513,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,619,016.33. This represents a 8.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

S&P Global Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE:SPGI traded up $2.40 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $532.81. 496,935 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,276,837. S&P Global Inc. has a 12-month low of $427.14 and a 12-month high of $545.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $518.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $507.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.41 billion, a PE ratio of 41.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.19.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 prior year, the company posted $4.01 earnings per share. S&P Global's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be given a dividend of $0.96 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. S&P Global's payout ratio is 30.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on SPGI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $616.00 to $589.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $627.00 to $632.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $587.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Two investment 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $601.07.

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.