Waverton Investment Management Ltd Sells 1,170 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Waverton Investment Management Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 53.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,028 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,170 shares during the quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $513,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SPGI. Headinvest LLC grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 2.0% during the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 997 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $515,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. EWA LLC boosted its holdings in S&P Global by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 498 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in S&P Global by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $788,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Fullcircle Wealth LLC grew its position in S&P Global by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fullcircle Wealth LLC now owns 1,789 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $872,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp increased its stake in S&P Global by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 127 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SPGI shares. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $590.23.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of SPGI stock opened at $533.05 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $510.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $509.45. The stock has a market cap of $164.07 billion, a PE ratio of 43.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. S&P Global Inc. has a 12 month low of $407.69 and a 12 month high of $545.39.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.36. S&P Global had a net margin of 27.12% and a return on equity of 14.33%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This is an increase from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.09%.

S&P Global Company Profile

S&P Global, Inc engages in the provision of transparent and independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and data to the capital and commodity markets worldwide. It operates through the following segments: Market Intelligence, Ratings, Commodity Insights, Mobility, Indices, and Engineering Solutions.