Legato Capital Management LLC Has $402,000 Stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Legato Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 52.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 808 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 907 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in S&P Global in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of S&P Global during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in S&P Global by 77.1% in the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 62 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in S&P Global by 94.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on SPGI shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on S&P Global from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of S&P Global from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $587.92.

S&P Global Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of S&P Global stock opened at $539.77 on Friday. S&P Global Inc. has a 52-week low of $407.69 and a 52-week high of $545.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $506.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $506.78. The firm has a market cap of $166.14 billion, a PE ratio of 47.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.36. S&P Global had a net margin of 25.80% and a return on equity of 13.72%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.13 EPS. On average, analysts predict that S&P Global Inc. will post 15.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. This is an increase from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.09%.

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.