Diligent Investors LLC Cuts Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Diligent Investors LLC cut its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,252 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 25 shares during the quarter. S&P Global comprises about 1.0% of Diligent Investors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Diligent Investors LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $4,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new position in S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its stake in S&P Global by 131.0% during the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 38 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 other S&P Global news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the business’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 transaction 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 approximately $2,619,016.33. The trade was a 8.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of SPGI stock opened at $514.20 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $157.71 billion, a PE ratio of 41.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. S&P Global Inc. has a 52-week low of $425.49 and a 52-week high of $545.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $492.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $504.04.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.23 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.72 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 27.12%. S&P Global’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.01 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be issued a $0.96 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. S&P Global’s payout ratio is 30.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SPGI. Argus upgraded S&P Global to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on 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. Mizuho started coverage on S&P Global in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $592.71.

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.