Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. Increases Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,442 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Exos TFP Holdings LLC acquired a new position in S&P Global in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of S&P Global by 74.5% in the 1st quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 89 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC bought a new position in S&P Global during the first quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 76.4% during the first quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 97 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.50% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Saugata Saha sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.69, for a total transaction of $78,138.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,734 shares in the company, valued at $1,068,146.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 9,657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.11, for a total transaction of $3,805,920.27. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,831,454.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Saugata Saha sold 200 shares of S&P Global stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.69, for a total transaction of $78,138.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,068,146.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,857 shares of company stock worth $8,549,352 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

S&P Global Stock Performance

SPGI traded down $7.93 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $388.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,472,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 901,477. The stock has a market cap of $123.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.63, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.12. S&P Global Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.32 and a twelve month high of $428.65. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $396.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $372.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.81 EPS. Research analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 28th were paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 25th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SPGI. TheStreet cut shares of S&P Global from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of S&P Global in a report on Thursday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $453.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $425.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Bank of America began coverage on S&P Global in a research note on Thursday, June 15th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of S&P Global from $460.00 to $451.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 28th. One 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $404.00.

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 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.