First Interstate Bank Lowers Stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

First Interstate Bank cut its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 3.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 985 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 35 shares during the quarter. First Interstate Bank’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $439,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SPGI. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Sachetta LLC boosted its holdings in S&P Global by 103.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, First Pacific Financial raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 49.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 73 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other S&P Global news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.60, for a total transaction of $3,385,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,915,443.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other S&P Global news, Director Robert P. Kelly sold 7,662 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.28, for a total value of $3,687,567.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,618,662.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.60, for a total value of $3,385,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,915,443.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,862 shares of company stock worth $8,645,727. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SPGI has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on S&P Global from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on S&P Global from $530.00 to $564.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of S&P Global from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $486.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $530.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $535.25.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of SPGI stock opened at $515.83 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $488.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $449.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.17. S&P Global Inc. has a 12 month low of $340.49 and a 12 month high of $521.50.

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

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. S&P Global’s payout ratio is 40.81%.

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.