PFG Investments LLC Lowers Stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

PFG Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,065 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 49 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of S&P Global by 45.8% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in S&P Global in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new position in S&P Global in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SPGI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of S&P Global from $422.00 to $452.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of S&P Global in a report on Friday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $446.25.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SPGI opened at $422.81 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $433.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $410.55. S&P Global Inc. has a 12 month low of $329.46 and a 12 month high of $461.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.15.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 11.34% and a net margin of 21.02%. S&P Global’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.54 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 14 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. S&P Global’s payout ratio is currently 44.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at S&P Global

In other S&P Global news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 6,000 shares of S&P Global stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $424.74, for a total value of $2,548,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,530 shares in the company, valued at $69,032,992.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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, and S&P Dow Jones Indices segments.