Edgewood Management LLC Trims Stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Edgewood Management LLC trimmed its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 1.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,922,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 62,065 shares during the quarter. S&P Global accounts for about 5.5% of Edgewood Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Edgewood Management LLC owned approximately 1.26% of S&P Global worth $2,026,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in S&P Global by 53.8% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,536 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in S&P Global by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,936,697 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,000,536,000 after purchasing an additional 26,300 shares in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co raised its stake in S&P Global by 18.7% in the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 1,479 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $766,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 31,737 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,396,000 after purchasing an additional 4,160 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 253,338 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $130,880,000 after buying an additional 22,159 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Stock Up 1.8 %

SPGI opened at $512.26 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $509.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $481.15. The company has a market capitalization of $158.96 billion, a PE ratio of 45.21, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.18. S&P Global Inc. has a 1-year low of $407.69 and a 1-year high of $533.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.25. S&P Global had a return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 25.80%. The company had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.21 EPS. S&P Global’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.24 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SPGI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI began coverage on S&P Global in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $564.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on S&P Global from $500.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on S&P Global from $536.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Raymond James lowered S&P Global from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $571.31.

S&P Global Profile

S&P Global Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and workflow solutions in the global capital, commodity, and automotive markets. It operates through S&P Global Market Intelligence, S&P Global Ratings, S&P Global Commodity Insights, S&P Global Mobility, S&P Dow Jones Indices, and S&P Global Engineering Solutions segments.