Whitford Management LLC Takes Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Whitford Management LLC bought a new stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 23,804 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,855,000. S&P Global accounts for about 3.2% of Whitford Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 37,746 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,799,000 after purchasing an additional 6,051 shares during the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter valued at about $14,040,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 110.8% in the 4th quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 23,868 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,066,000 after buying an additional 12,547 shares during the period. James Hambro & Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. James Hambro & Partners LLP now owns 217,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $108,173,000 after buying an additional 1,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Capital Holdings LLC grew its holdings in S&P Global by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 11,499 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,727,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho initiated coverage on S&P Global in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $618.00 to $565.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $616.00 to $589.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, S&P Global has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $592.71.

S&P Global Stock Up 0.3%

SPGI stock opened at $523.89 on Tuesday. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $419.49 and a 52 week high of $545.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $488.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $502.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.23 by $0.14. S&P Global had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 27.12%. The company had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.01 EPS. S&P Global’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. S&P Global’s payout ratio is 30.16%.

Insider Activity at S&P Global

In related news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $510.43, for a total transaction of $255,215.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,619,016.33. The trade was a 8.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

S&P Global Company Profile

S&P Global, Inc engages in the provision of transparent and independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and data to the capital and commodity markets worldwide. It operates through the following segments: Market Intelligence, Ratings, Commodity Insights, Mobility, Indices, and Engineering Solutions.