Marathon Asset Management Ltd Lowers Stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Marathon Asset Management Ltd lowered its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 18.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 57,796 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 13,285 shares during the quarter. Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $29,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SPGI. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 37,746 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,799,000 after purchasing an additional 6,051 shares during the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter valued at $14,040,000. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 11,499 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,727,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 85.9% during the 4th quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. now owns 1,288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $641,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coalescence Partners Investment Management LP grew its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 62.7% during the 4th quarter. Coalescence Partners Investment Management LP now owns 30,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,985,000 after purchasing an additional 11,599 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sally Moore sold 500 shares of S&P Global 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 $2,619,016.33. This trade represents a 8.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of S&P Global from $618.00 to $565.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of S&P Global in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of S&P Global from $616.00 to $589.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of S&P Global from $555.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of S&P Global from $607.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $592.71.

S&P Global Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of SPGI opened at $518.23 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $506.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $503.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.71, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. S&P Global Inc. has a 1-year low of $427.14 and a 1-year high of $545.39.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $4.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.23 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.72 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.01 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. S&P Global’s payout ratio is 30.16%.

S&P Global Profile

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.