Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC cut its holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,486 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 80 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $2,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SPGI. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,579,943 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,769,787,000 after acquiring an additional 881,215 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of S&P Global by 8.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,658,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,067,807,000 after buying an additional 428,737 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of S&P Global by 1,750.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 428,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $156,538,000 after purchasing an additional 405,234 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in S&P Global by 42.7% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,033,443 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $377,630,000 after buying an additional 309,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in S&P Global by 35.5% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,179,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $430,827,000 after purchasing an additional 308,683 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SPGI shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on S&P Global from $480.00 to $483.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of S&P Global in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of S&P Global in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on S&P Global from $480.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on S&P Global from $422.00 to $452.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $462.60.

S&P Global Stock Up 0.1 %

SPGI traded up $0.58 on Monday, reaching $425.76. 1,316,527 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,373,869. S&P Global Inc. has a 52-week low of $340.49 and a 52-week high of $461.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $133.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.60, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $422.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $419.93.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The business services provider reported $4.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.33. S&P Global had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 22.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.39 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 14.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 29th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 28th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.81%.

Insider Transactions at S&P Global

In other S&P Global news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $424.74, for a total transaction of $2,548,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,530 shares in the company, valued at $69,032,992.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.