Waverton Investment Management Ltd Reduces Stock Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Waverton Investment Management Ltd lowered its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 55.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,198 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,755 shares during the period. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $1,135,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SPGI. Dupont Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 27.1% in the first quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 28,249 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,019,000 after purchasing an additional 6,025 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in S&P Global by 43.5% in the first quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 802 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in S&P Global by 15.3% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 580 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in S&P Global by 3.7% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,935 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,801,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in S&P Global by 2.2% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 6,521 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,774,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SPGI has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut 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 report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of S&P Global from $600.00 to $585.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $536.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of S&P Global from $564.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $571.31.

S&P Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SPGI opened at $507.34 on Tuesday. S&P Global Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $392.69 and a fifty-two week high of $533.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $511.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $476.41. The company has a market capitalization of $157.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.18. 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) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The business services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.43 billion. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.80% and a return on equity of 13.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.21 earnings per share. Analysts expect that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. S&P Global’s payout ratio is currently 32.13%.

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.