Great Lakes Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 1.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 121,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,245 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $54,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in S&P Global during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. First Pacific Financial lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 49.0% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SPGI traded down $6.36 during trading on Friday, reaching $510.64. The stock had a trading volume of 1,037,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,232,332. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $159.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.25, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $486.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $448.58. S&P Global Inc. has a one year low of $340.49 and a one year high of $521.50.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.03% and a return on equity of 13.03%. S&P Global’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 27th. S&P Global’s payout ratio is 40.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $530.00 to $564.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays upped their target price on S&P Global from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on S&P Global from $486.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $535.25.

Insider Transactions at S&P Global

In other S&P Global news, Director Robert P. Kelly sold 7,662 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 15,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,618,662.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other S&P Global news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 154,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,915,443.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert P. Kelly sold 7,662 shares of S&P Global 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,830 shares in the company, valued at $7,618,662.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,862 shares of company stock worth $8,645,727 over the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.