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

Cornerstone Advisors LLC reduced its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $7,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SPGI. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the first quarter worth $351,774,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in S&P Global by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,502,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,423,762,000 after purchasing an additional 616,732 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in S&P Global by 352.2% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 463,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $206,669,000 after purchasing an additional 360,909 shares during the period. Third Point LLC acquired a new stake in S&P Global in the 1st quarter valued at about $142,526,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,624,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,156,060,000 after buying an additional 279,633 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

S&P Global Stock Down 0.1 %

SPGI stock opened at $519.45 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $162.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $493.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $451.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. S&P Global Inc. has a 12 month low of $340.49 and a 12 month high of $524.14.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.37. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.03% and a return on equity of 13.03%. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.12 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.58 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. S&P Global’s payout ratio is currently 40.81%.

Insider Transactions at S&P Global

In related news, EVP Steven J. Kemps sold 2,700 shares of S&P Global stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total value of $1,327,185.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $715,205.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Edouard Tavernier sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total value of $245,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,217 shares in the company, valued at $6,496,816.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven J. Kemps sold 2,700 shares of S&P Global stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total value of $1,327,185.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $715,205.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders 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 insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SPGI. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $532.00 to $537.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of S&P Global to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays raised their price target on S&P Global from $550.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on S&P Global from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, S&P Global currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $548.18.

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, S&P Dow Jones Indices, and S&P Global Engineering Solutions segments.