Putnam Investments LLC Acquires 41,901 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Putnam Investments LLC raised its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 108.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,386 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,901 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $27,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SPGI. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Circle Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Circle Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,501 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $503,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 3.9% during the first quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 776 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 3.8% during the first quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC now owns 820 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hoxton Planning & Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 2.0% during the first quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on SPGI shares. Bank of America assumed coverage on S&P Global in a research note on Thursday, June 15th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on S&P Global from $460.00 to $451.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 28th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on S&P Global in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on S&P Global in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $453.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TheStreet lowered S&P Global from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, S&P Global presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $404.00.

S&P Global Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE SPGI opened at $396.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $126.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.12. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $279.32 and a 52 week high of $428.65. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $396.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $372.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The business services provider reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $3.12. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 10.45% and a net margin of 19.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 12.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 12th. Investors of record on Monday, August 28th were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 25th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Adam Jason Kansler sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.38, for a total transaction of $3,873,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 20,961 shares in the company, valued at $8,119,872.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Saugata Saha sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $384.43, for a total transaction of $76,886.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,934 shares in the company, valued at $1,127,917.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Adam Jason Kansler sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $387.38, for a total value of $3,873,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 20,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,119,872.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,857 shares of company stock worth $8,549,352. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

S&P Global 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 six segments: S&P Global Ratings, S&P Dow Jones Indices, S&P Global Commodity Insights, S&P Global Market Intelligence, S&P Global Mobility, and S&P Global Engineering Solutions.