Central Bank & Trust Co. Decreases Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Central Bank & Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 13.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,041 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,572 shares during the period. S&P Global accounts for 1.4% of Central Bank & Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $8,659,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in S&P Global in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new position in S&P Global in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in S&P Global in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in S&P Global in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its stake in S&P Global by 131.0% in the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SPGI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Argus upgraded shares of S&P Global to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of S&P Global from $629.00 to $603.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $607.00 to $627.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $555.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, S&P Global presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $592.71.

S&P Global Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:SPGI opened at $519.58 on Friday. S&P Global Inc. has a 52-week low of $425.49 and a 52-week high of $545.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $492.79 and a 200 day moving average of $504.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.36 billion, a PE ratio of 42.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.72 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 14.33%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.01 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 28th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,619,016.33. This represents a 8.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About S&P Global

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.