Granite Investment Partners LLC Decreases Stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Granite Investment Partners LLC lowered its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 795 shares during the quarter. S&P Global accounts for about 0.9% of Granite Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $21,971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SPGI. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in S&P Global during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Sachetta LLC increased its position in S&P Global by 103.4% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in S&P Global during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. First Pacific Financial grew its holdings in S&P Global by 49.0% during the second quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 73 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in S&P Global during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at S&P Global

In other S&P Global news, insider Edouard Tavernier sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total transaction of $245,775.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,217 shares in the company, valued at $6,496,816.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert P. Kelly sold 7,662 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $481.28, for a total value of $3,687,567.36. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,618,662.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Edouard Tavernier sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total value of $245,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,496,816.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,862 shares of company stock worth $8,645,727 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on SPGI. UBS Group boosted their price target on S&P Global from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on S&P Global from $486.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America upped their price objective on S&P Global from $530.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on S&P Global from $530.00 to $564.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, S&P Global presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $548.18.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of S&P Global stock opened at $524.32 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $498.25 and a 200 day moving average of $454.23. S&P Global Inc. has a 12 month low of $340.49 and a 12 month high of $528.02. The firm has a market cap of $164.06 billion, a PE ratio of 58.78, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.