Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Lowers Stock Position 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% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,486 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $2,857,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of S&P Global in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its stake in S&P Global by 64.1% during the 4th quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 64 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its holdings in S&P Global by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 141.7% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of S&P Global in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at S&P Global

In other news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,032,992.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SPGI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $480.00 to $483.00 and gave the stock 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on S&P Global from $442.00 to $446.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of S&P Global from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $480.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $462.60.

S&P Global Stock Performance

NYSE SPGI traded up $0.58 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $425.76. 1,316,527 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,373,869. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. S&P Global Inc. has a 52 week low of $340.49 and a 52 week high of $461.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $422.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $419.93.

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

S&P Global Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 28th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. S&P Global’s payout ratio is currently 40.81%.

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.