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

Rockingstone Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 0.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,723 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the quarter. S&P Global makes up 1.8% of Rockingstone Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Rockingstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $3,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth $1,652,862,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in S&P Global in the first quarter valued at about $351,774,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in S&P Global by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,502,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,423,762,000 after purchasing an additional 616,732 shares in the last quarter. Third Point LLC acquired a new position in S&P Global during the 1st quarter worth approximately $142,526,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,624,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,156,060,000 after buying an additional 279,633 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

S&P Global Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE SPGI traded down $1.87 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $491.06. 1,012,829 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,242,893. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $465.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $441.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $153.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.16. S&P Global Inc. has a 52-week low of $340.49 and a 52-week high of $502.95.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.12 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. S&P Global’s payout ratio is 40.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Steven J. Kemps sold 2,700 shares of S&P Global stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was 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 owns 1,455 shares in the company, valued at $715,205.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other S&P Global news, 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 transaction of $1,327,185.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $715,205.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert P. Kelly sold 7,662 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $481.28, for a total transaction of $3,687,567.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,618,662.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,862 shares of company stock valued at $8,645,727. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SPGI. 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $500.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of S&P Global from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America boosted their price target on S&P Global from $530.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on S&P Global from $486.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $530.75.

S&P Global 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.