S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) Shares Sold by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund reduced its stake in S&P Global Inc. by 16.7% during the first quarter, now holding 45,900 shares worth approximately $23.32 million.
• S&P Global reported earnings of $4.43 per share for the latest quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $4.18, with revenues increasing by 5.8% year-over-year.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.96 to be paid on September 10th, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.7%.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund trimmed its position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 16.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,900 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 9,200 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in S&P Global were worth $23,322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,779,003 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $15,130,711,000 after purchasing an additional 108,729 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,276,043 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,631,568,000 after buying an additional 525,347 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,071,407 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,529,653,000 after buying an additional 357,790 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 3.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,762,187 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,403,468,000 after buying an additional 97,324 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,184,312 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,087,853,000 after buying an additional 224,294 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

S&P Global Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of SPGI stock traded down $8.04 on Friday, reaching $556.11. 962,718 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,197,686. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $529.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $512.54. S&P Global Inc. has a 1-year low of $427.14 and a 1-year high of $579.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $169.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.19.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $4.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.25. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.30% and a return on equity of 15.11%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.04 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SPGI shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective 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. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $610.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $567.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $611.69.

About S&P Global

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.