Sapient Capital LLC Makes New $235,000 Investment in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 534 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SPGI. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,579,943 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,769,787,000 after purchasing an additional 881,215 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in S&P Global by 8.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,658,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,067,807,000 after acquiring an additional 428,737 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in S&P Global by 1,750.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 428,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $156,538,000 after acquiring an additional 405,234 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of S&P Global by 42.7% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,033,443 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $377,630,000 after acquiring an additional 309,123 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of S&P Global by 35.5% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,179,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $430,827,000 after purchasing an additional 308,683 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Stock Performance

SPGI stock opened at $428.56 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $422.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $420.97. S&P Global Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $340.49 and a fifty-two week high of $461.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $134.10 billion, a PE ratio of 48.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.14.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The business services provider reported $4.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.39 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 22.01%. Analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.1 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 28th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other S&P Global news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $424.74, for a total value of $2,548,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,032,992.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SPGI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of S&P Global in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of S&P Global from $422.00 to $452.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on S&P Global from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on S&P Global from $442.00 to $446.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, S&P Global has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $462.60.

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.