Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Trims Stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lessened its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in S&P Global by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,356 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $598,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of S&P Global by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 101 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 2,591 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,141,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its position in shares of S&P Global by 64.1% during the fourth quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 64 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Bank & Trust raised its stake in S&P Global by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 3,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,621,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on SPGI. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $500.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on S&P Global from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on S&P Global from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on S&P Global from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on S&P Global from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, S&P Global currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $526.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of S&P Global stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.60, for a total value of $3,385,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,915,443.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other S&P Global news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of S&P Global stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.60, for a total transaction of $3,385,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 154,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,915,443.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven J. Kemps sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total value of $1,327,185.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,455 shares in the company, valued at $715,205.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,200 shares of company stock worth $4,958,160 in the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

S&P Global Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of SPGI traded up $7.62 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $479.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,473,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,264,192. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s 50-day moving average is $456.28 and its 200-day moving average is $439.04. S&P Global Inc. has a 52-week low of $340.49 and a 52-week high of $502.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.77, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.16.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.37. S&P Global had a return on equity of 13.03% and a net margin of 25.03%. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.12 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.81%.

About S&P Global

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.