S&P Global Inc. $SPGI Stake Reduced by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its holdings in S&P Global Inc. by 9.4% in the first quarter, now owning 107,085 shares valued at approximately $54.41 million.
• S&P Global reported better-than-expected earnings of $4.43 EPS with revenue of $3.76 billion, surpassing analyst expectations for both measures.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.96, yielding 0.7%, with the ex-dividend date set for August 26th.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 9.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 107,085 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 11,143 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in S&P Global were worth $54,410,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the first quarter worth $26,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the first quarter worth $26,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in S&P Global in the first quarter valued at $28,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of S&P Global from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target 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. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of S&P Global to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $611.69.

S&P Global Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of SPGI traded down $5.67 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $550.80. 947,848 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,197,686. The company has a market cap of $168.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.19. S&P Global Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $427.14 and a fifty-two week high of $579.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock's 50-day moving average is $530.60 and its 200-day moving average is $512.67.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $4.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.04 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. S&P Global's payout ratio is 29.54%.

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.