Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 380 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its position in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,395 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 380 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $10,880,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in S&P Global in the second quarter worth about $31,000. First Pacific Financial increased its stake in shares of S&P Global by 49.0% during the second quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 73 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on SPGI. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on S&P Global from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on S&P Global from $532.00 to $537.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays upped 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $530.75.

S&P Global Stock Performance

SPGI stock traded up $5.19 on Friday, hitting $513.24. The company had a trading volume of 1,245,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,237,968. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. S&P Global Inc. has a 12-month low of $340.49 and a 12-month high of $514.00. The stock has a market cap of $160.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $478.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $444.88.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 13.03% and a net margin of 25.03%. S&P Global’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.12 earnings per share. As a group, 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. 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 0.71%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert P. Kelly sold 7,662 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $481.28, for a total value of $3,687,567.36. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,618,662.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other S&P Global news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of the company’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 $74,915,443.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 $7,618,662.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,862 shares of company stock worth $8,645,727. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.