Ninety One North America Inc. Sells 20,561 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Ninety One North America Inc. lessened its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 136,069 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 20,561 shares during the period. S&P Global accounts for about 2.9% of Ninety One North America Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $59,941,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth $1,112,935,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in S&P Global by 11,089.7% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,230,227 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $914,794,000 after buying an additional 2,210,296 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in S&P Global by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,318,418 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,446,412,000 after buying an additional 1,437,116 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in S&P Global by 39.5% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,727,874 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,529,100,000 after buying an additional 1,056,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in S&P Global by 113,163.2% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,005,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $336,875,000 after buying an additional 1,004,889 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at S&P Global

In other S&P Global news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $424.74, for a total transaction of $2,548,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,032,992.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SPGI. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $422.00 to $452.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $464.22.

S&P Global Stock Performance

SPGI traded up $2.04 during trading on Thursday, hitting $414.15. 360,611 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,299,477. The firm has a market cap of $132.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $425.70 and its 200 day moving average is $415.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. S&P Global Inc. has a one year low of $338.92 and a one year high of $461.16.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The business services provider reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.15 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 21.02% and a return on equity of 11.34%. S&P Global’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. This is an increase from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is 44.23%.

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.