First Western Trust Bank Lowers Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

First Western Trust Bank lessened its holdings in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 16.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,081 shares during the quarter. First Western Trust Bank’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $4,760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. 9258 Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in S&P Global by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $858,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in S&P Global by 9.1% in the second quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,985 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,899,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in S&P Global by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 765 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 0.3% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 154,924 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $69,096,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. Finally, FineMark National Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 6.6% in the second quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 1,637 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $730,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at S&P Global

In related news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $74,915,443.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other S&P Global news, insider Edouard Tavernier sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total transaction of $245,775.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,496,816.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of S&P Global stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.60, for a total transaction of $3,385,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 154,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,915,443.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,862 shares of company stock valued at $8,645,727 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:SPGI opened at $517.00 on Friday. S&P Global Inc. has a 12-month low of $340.49 and a 12-month high of $518.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.96, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $485.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $447.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.37. S&P Global had a return on equity of 13.03% and a net margin of 25.03%. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.12 EPS. S&P Global’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

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 paid 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 0.70%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SPGI shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on S&P Global from $486.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on S&P Global from $530.00 to $564.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America boosted 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 report on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of S&P Global from $532.00 to $537.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays increased 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $535.25.

S&P Global Company 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 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.