Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Trims Stock Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado reduced its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,803 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $19,880,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Sachetta LLC raised its holdings in S&P Global by 103.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in S&P Global during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. First Pacific Financial grew its holdings in S&P Global by 49.0% in 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, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at S&P Global

In other S&P Global news, insider Edouard Tavernier sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,496,816.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other S&P Global news, insider Edouard Tavernier sold 500 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 transaction of $245,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,496,816.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Steven J. Kemps sold 2,700 shares of S&P Global stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total transaction of $1,327,185.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $715,205.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,862 shares of company stock worth $8,645,727. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on S&P Global from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of S&P Global to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of S&P Global from $500.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $548.18.

S&P Global Price Performance

SPGI stock opened at $523.72 on Friday. S&P Global Inc. has a 1 year low of $340.49 and a 1 year high of $528.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.87 billion, a PE ratio of 58.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $499.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $454.91.

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

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. S&P Global’s 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.