Northcape Capital Pty Ltd Sells 2,146 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Northcape Capital Pty Ltd trimmed its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 20.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,146 shares during the period. S&P Global accounts for about 0.4% of Northcape Capital Pty Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Northcape Capital Pty Ltd’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $3,753,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SPGI. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in S&P Global by 18.5% in the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,409 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $515,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning purchased a new position in S&P Global during the fourth quarter valued at $1,644,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in shares of S&P Global by 12.1% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 186,231 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $68,051,000 after purchasing an additional 20,153 shares during the period. Prossimo Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of S&P Global by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 1,420 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $519,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its holdings in S&P Global by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 13,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,906,000 after buying an additional 2,841 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on SPGI. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of S&P Global in a report on Friday, February 9th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $422.00 to $452.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $446.25.

S&P Global Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of SPGI traded up $3.99 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $426.80. The company had a trading volume of 589,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,325,725. S&P Global Inc. has a 1 year low of $329.46 and a 1 year high of $461.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $136.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $433.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $410.55.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The business services provider reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.15 by ($0.02). S&P Global had a return on equity of 11.34% and a net margin of 21.02%. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.54 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 14 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 26th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. This is an increase from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.23%.

Insider Transactions at S&P Global

In other news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $424.74, for a total transaction of $2,548,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 162,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,032,992.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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, and S&P Dow Jones Indices segments.