Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 49.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 519 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 514 shares during the period. Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in S&P Global by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,589,982 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,273,264,000 after acquiring an additional 116,208 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of S&P Global during the 4th quarter worth $1,725,084,000. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,345,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,162,979,000 after purchasing an additional 145,434 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,999,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $995,795,000 after purchasing an additional 62,770 shares during the period. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of S&P Global by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,868,814 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $930,725,000 after purchasing an additional 9,880 shares during the period. 87.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

S&P Global Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SPGI opened at $451.47 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $141.69 billion, a PE ratio of 36.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $513.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $509.15. S&P Global Inc. has a 12 month low of $405.23 and a 12 month high of $545.39.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.36. S&P Global had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 27.12%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a $0.96 dividend. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SPGI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. 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. Oppenheimer dropped their price target 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. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, S&P Global presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $590.86.

S&P Global 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.