Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Trims Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS reduced its holdings in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 806 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $19,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Capital Management LLC increased its stake in S&P Global by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC now owns 17,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,678,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of S&P Global by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,403,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $618,369,000 after purchasing an additional 190,758 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA increased its position in shares of S&P Global by 107.2% in the 2nd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 5,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,798,000 after purchasing an additional 2,962 shares during the last quarter. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of S&P Global by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC now owns 247,933 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $109,219,000 after purchasing an additional 5,603 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of S&P Global by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 475,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $209,670,000 after purchasing an additional 5,087 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other S&P Global news, EVP Steven J. Kemps sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total transaction of $1,327,185.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $715,205.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other S&P Global news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.60, for a total transaction of $3,385,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 154,912 shares in the company, valued at $74,915,443.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Steven J. Kemps sold 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.55, for a total transaction of $1,327,185.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,455 shares in the company, valued at $715,205.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,862 shares of company stock valued at $8,645,727 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of SPGI traded up $0.97 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $514.28. The company had a trading volume of 407,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,229,041. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $483.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $447.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $160.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.55, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.16. S&P Global Inc. has a 12-month low of $340.49 and a 12-month high of $518.59.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $4.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.37. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.03% and a return on equity of 13.03%. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.57 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of S&P Global to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of S&P Global from $530.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of S&P Global from $530.00 to $564.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of S&P Global from $486.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $535.25.

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 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.