Wedgewood Partners Inc. Sells 1,022 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Wedgewood Partners Inc. lowered its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,360 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,022 shares during the quarter. S&P Global accounts for 2.3% of Wedgewood Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Wedgewood Partners Inc.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $11,634,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brookstone Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter valued at $272,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in S&P Global by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 532 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in S&P Global by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,756,000 after acquiring an additional 1,391 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in S&P Global by 96.6% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $526,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Salley Wealth Management raised its stake in S&P Global by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 37,079 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,466,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $555.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on S&P Global from $607.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on S&P Global from $618.00 to $565.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $592.71.

Insider Transactions at S&P Global

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 shares were sold at an average price of $510.43, for a total transaction of $255,215.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,619,016.33. This represents a 8.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Price Performance

SPGI opened at $522.36 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $487.94 and a 200 day moving average of $502.70. The stock has a market cap of $160.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.30, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. S&P Global Inc. has a 52-week low of $419.49 and a 52-week high of $545.39.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced 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 company had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.72 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 14.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.01 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.16%.

S&P Global 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.