D.A. Davidson & CO. Lowers Stock Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

D.A. Davidson & CO. trimmed its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 110,512 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 730 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $56,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in S&P Global by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,589,982 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,273,264,000 after acquiring an additional 116,208 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth about $1,725,084,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in 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 worth $1,631,568,000 after purchasing an additional 525,347 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position 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 worth $1,529,653,000 after purchasing an additional 357,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,345,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,162,979,000 after purchasing an additional 145,434 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SPGI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $618.00 to $565.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Mizuho initiated coverage on S&P Global in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on 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. Finally, 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 note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $593.57.

Insider Activity at S&P Global

In related news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were 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 directly owned 5,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,619,016.33. The trade was a 8.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

S&P Global Trading Down 0.7%

SPGI opened at $525.68 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. S&P Global Inc. has a one year low of $427.14 and a one year high of $545.39. The company has a market cap of $161.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.29, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $510.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $503.90.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.23 by $0.14. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The company had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be given a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.