Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Sells 327 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC decreased its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 327 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $2,993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headinvest LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. EWA LLC lifted its position in S&P Global by 4.2% during the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 498 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in S&P Global by 1.3% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $788,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in S&P Global by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $515,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fullcircle Wealth LLC lifted its position in S&P Global by 1.2% during the third quarter. Fullcircle Wealth LLC now owns 1,789 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $872,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SPGI opened at $534.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $164.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $513.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $510.82. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 in the prior year, the business earned $3.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 EPS for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on SPGI. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup assumed coverage on S&P Global in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $590.23.

About S&P Global

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.