Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 371 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 31.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 821 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 371 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SPGI. New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 26.5% in the 2nd quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 788 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in S&P Global by 0.3% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 89,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,945,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the second quarter worth approximately $362,000. SPC Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of S&P Global in the second quarter valued at approximately $275,000. Finally, Ted Buchan & Co acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $269,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of S&P Global stock opened at $514.60 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $504.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $460.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.69, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.17. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $340.49 and a 52 week high of $528.02.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 EPS 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 business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.12 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.57 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is 40.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other S&P Global news, insider Edouard Tavernier sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total value of $245,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,496,816.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Edouard Tavernier sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total transaction of $245,775.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,217 shares in the company, valued at $6,496,816.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of the 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 owns 154,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,915,443.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,862 shares of company stock valued at $8,645,727 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SPGI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on S&P Global from $540.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on S&P Global from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $532.00 to $537.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $530.00 to $564.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of S&P Global from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, S&P Global presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $556.58.

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, S&P Dow Jones Indices, and S&P Global Engineering Solutions segments.