Great Lakes Advisors LLC Sells 29,374 Shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 24.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 92,077 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 29,374 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $45,857,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPGI. SHEPHERD WEALTH MANAGEMENT Ltd LIABILITY Co acquired a new stake in S&P Global during the fourth quarter worth about $289,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 74.2% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,129 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of S&P Global by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,855 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,916,000 after buying an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in S&P Global by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 176,532 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $87,918,000 after purchasing an additional 2,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prosperity Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,289 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $642,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

S&P Global Stock Performance

NYSE SPGI opened at $480.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $147.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.91, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50 day moving average of $514.52 and a 200-day moving average of $511.46. 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 1-year low of $407.69 and a 1-year high of $545.39.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 previous year, the company earned $3.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on SPGI shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on S&P Global in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.