Sterling Investment Management LLC Has $1.62 Million Stock Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Sterling Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 1.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 58 shares during the quarter. S&P Global accounts for about 1.3% of Sterling Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $1,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new position in S&P Global during the first quarter valued at about $1,969,000. Markel Corp raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 0.8% in the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 149,790 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in S&P Global by 1.6% during the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $919,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in S&P Global by 115.4% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $883,000 after buying an additional 1,154 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 736 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SPGI. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Thursday, September 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $453.00 target price on the stock. TheStreet lowered S&P Global from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Bank of America assumed coverage on S&P Global in a research report on Thursday, June 15th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on S&P Global from $460.00 to $451.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on S&P Global from $425.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, S&P Global has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $404.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at S&P Global

In related news, insider Saugata Saha sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $424.40, for a total transaction of $84,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $820,789.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Adam Jason Kansler sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.38, for a total value of $3,873,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,119,872.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Saugata Saha sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $424.40, for a total value of $84,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $820,789.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,657 shares of company stock worth $8,472,466. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of S&P Global stock traded down $1.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $388.40. The company had a trading volume of 159,739 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,237,721. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $396.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $373.13. S&P Global Inc. has a 1-year low of $279.32 and a 1-year high of $428.65. The company has a market capitalization of $123.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.12.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The business services provider reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.12. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 10.45% and a net margin of 19.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.81 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 28th were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 25th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.72%.

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 six segments: S&P Global Ratings, S&P Dow Jones Indices, S&P Global Commodity Insights, S&P Global Market Intelligence, S&P Global Mobility, and S&P Global Engineering Solutions.