Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 1,815 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 22,307 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,815 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in S&P Global were worth $11,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. KCM Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in S&P Global by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,763,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 21.0% during the third quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 127 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of S&P Global by 6.7% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,114,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 10,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,382,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in S&P Global by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 56,626 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,254,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of SPGI stock opened at $503.29 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.42, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $510.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $478.74. S&P Global Inc. has a 1 year low of $401.79 and a 1 year high of $533.29. 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 earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.43 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.80% and a return on equity of 13.72%. S&P Global’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.21 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.25 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. S&P Global’s payout ratio is presently 32.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $605.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on S&P Global from $564.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on S&P Global from $540.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI began coverage on S&P Global in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $599.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on S&P Global from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, S&P Global has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $571.31.

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.