Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 9,836 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI - Free Report) by 0.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,235,809 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 9,836 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.40% of S&P Global worth $651,914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SPGI. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its position in S&P Global by 0.8% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 27,741 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $14,332,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 78.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 30,022 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $15,510,000 after buying an additional 13,226 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in S&P Global by 102.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 6,422 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,318,000 after buying an additional 3,251 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in S&P Global by 245.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,880 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $8,721,000 after buying an additional 11,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in S&P Global by 12.6% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 27,598 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $14,198,000 after buying an additional 3,093 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $605.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of S&P Global from $589.00 to $564.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $540.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Raymond James downgraded S&P Global from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on S&P Global from $536.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $573.23.

S&P Global Trading Down 1.4 %

SPGI stock traded down $7.12 on Friday, reaching $505.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,191,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,209,018. The firm has a market cap of $156.93 billion, a PE ratio of 44.62, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $509.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $490.35. S&P Global Inc. has a 12-month low of $407.69 and a 12-month high of $533.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.25. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.80% and a return on equity of 13.72%. The firm had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.21 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.24 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. S&P Global's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.13%.

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.