Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Sells 2,758 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 56,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,758 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $24,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 1st quarter worth $351,774,000. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,502,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,423,762,000 after acquiring an additional 616,732 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 352.2% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 463,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $206,669,000 after acquiring an additional 360,909 shares during the last quarter. Third Point LLC acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $142,526,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 348.2% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 336,640 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $148,284,000 after purchasing an additional 261,526 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SPGI has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $550.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on S&P Global from $500.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America upped their target price on S&P Global from $530.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on S&P Global from $530.00 to $564.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on S&P Global from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $548.18.

S&P Global Price Performance

S&P Global stock opened at $523.67 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $499.16 and its 200 day moving average is $455.14. S&P Global Inc. has a one year low of $340.49 and a one year high of $528.02. The firm has a market cap of $163.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released 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 net margin of 25.03% and a return on equity of 13.03%. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.12 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.58 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at S&P Global

In other news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.60, for a total value of $3,385,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,915,443.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Steven J. Kemps sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,862 shares of company stock valued at $8,645,727. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.