Patten & Patten Inc. TN Trims Position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Patten & Patten Inc. TN trimmed its stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 18.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 560 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 123 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in S&P Global during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in S&P Global during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in S&P Global by 94.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 70 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in S&P Global by 700.0% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 72 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in S&P Global during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. 87.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

S&P Global Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of SPGI opened at $486.67 on Monday. S&P Global Inc. has a 1-year low of $407.69 and a 1-year high of $545.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $513.56 and a 200 day moving average of $510.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.41, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the business posted $3.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect 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 was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. This is a positive change from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on SPGI. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of S&P Global from $599.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of S&P Global in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of 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, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three equities 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $590.86.

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.