Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 152,769 Shares of S&P Global Inc. $SPGI

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 933,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 152,769 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $487,591,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 134.6% in the fourth quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 61 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 171.4% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 76 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SPGI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on S&P Global from $530.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Mizuho boosted their price target on S&P Global from $551.00 to $554.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Daiwa Securities Group cut their price target on S&P Global from $490.00 to $485.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on S&P Global from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $546.39.

S&P Global Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of SPGI opened at $425.16 on Friday. S&P Global Inc. has a one year low of $381.61 and a one year high of $579.05. The company has a market cap of $125.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $424.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $461.38.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $4.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.15. S&P Global had a net margin of 30.37% and a return on equity of 17.26%. The business had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. S&P Global has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.400-19.650 EPS. Research analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 19.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.97 per share. This represents a $3.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. S&P Global’s payout ratio is currently 24.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at S&P Global

In other news, CEO Martina Cheung acquired 2,322 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $429.93 per share, for a total transaction of $998,297.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 27,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,830,813.74. This trade represents a 9.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Catherine R. Clay acquired 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $431.39 per share, with a total value of $1,078,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,078,475. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders bought a total of 5,974 shares of company stock worth $2,576,775 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Company Profile

S&P Global is a leading provider of financial information, analytics and benchmark indices that serve investors, issuers, corporations and public institutions worldwide. The company operates through well-known businesses that include credit ratings, market intelligence and index licensing, as well as commodity and energy information services. Its products and services are used to assess creditworthiness, inform investment decisions, construct and track benchmark portfolios, and support risk and commodity market analysis.

S&P Global Ratings provides independent credit ratings, research and data used by fixed income investors and capital market participants to evaluate issuer and transaction risk.