S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 0.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,235,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,836 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.40% of S&P Global worth $651,914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in S&P Global in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sachetta LLC boosted its position in shares of S&P Global by 103.4% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 59 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in S&P Global in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in S&P Global in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SPGI. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on S&P Global from $536.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of S&P Global from $570.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of S&P Global from $589.00 to $564.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $573.23.

S&P Global Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE SPGI opened at $505.57 on Friday. S&P Global Inc. has a 12 month low of $407.69 and a 12 month high of $533.29. The company has a market capitalization of $156.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.62, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $509.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $490.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.25. S&P Global had a return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 25.80%. The company had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is 32.13%.

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.