Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Sells 140 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. cut its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,466 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 140 shares during the period. S&P Global accounts for about 1.8% of Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $2,824,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. First National Corp MA ADV raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 0.9% in the third quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 2,344 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,211,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 25.0% during the third quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 100 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 1.4% during the third quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 1,404 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $725,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 2.5% during the second quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chatham Capital Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of S&P Global by 0.5% during the second quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 4,501 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,007,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SPGI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $564.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Raymond James downgraded shares of S&P Global from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays upped their target price 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. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $540.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $565.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert P. Kelly sold 7,662 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.28, for a total transaction of $3,687,567.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,618,662.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other S&P Global news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 154,912 shares in the company, valued at $74,915,443.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert P. Kelly sold 7,662 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were 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 owns 15,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,618,662.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,862 shares of company stock worth $8,645,727. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

S&P Global Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of S&P Global stock traded down $9.34 on Tuesday, hitting $513.85. The company had a trading volume of 263,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,192,602. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.18. S&P Global Inc. has a twelve month low of $340.49 and a twelve month high of $533.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $512.98 and a 200-day moving average of $469.15.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.03% and a return on equity of 13.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.12 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.61 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

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

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.