S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) Stake Lessened by Optas LLC

Optas LLC cut its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 46.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 903 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 789 shares during the period. Optas LLC's holdings in S&P Global were worth $459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of S&P Global by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,176 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,582,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth $144,091,000. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC boosted its holdings in S&P Global by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 477 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in S&P Global by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,020 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,994,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in S&P Global by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,444 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,213,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other S&P Global news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.43, for a total value of $255,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SPGI. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of S&P Global from $555.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $618.00 to $565.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on 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. Wall Street Zen lowered S&P Global from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on S&P Global from $616.00 to $589.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, S&P Global presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $592.71.

S&P Global Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of SPGI stock opened at $501.03 on Friday. S&P Global Inc. has a 1 year low of $427.14 and a 1 year high of $545.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.67 billion, a PE ratio of 40.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $497.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $503.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 14.33%. The company's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.01 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th were issued a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 28th. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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